Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Edwin Shneidman, one of the keenest minds on suicide, offers an outstanding "autopsy" of a suicidal mind, Arthur, a miserable physician-attorney. Arthur, it seems, had a knack for having to be perfect and for communicating his pain in letters. Given his suicide letter (and many drafts that preceded it), Shneidman and a team of suicidologists interview several people who knew Arthur well (they thought) to try to figure out just why Arthur chose death over life.
The book is outstanding. It is hard to stop reading as each expert and interviewee offers his or her own unique views of Arthur's life and death. Unfortunately, if you're looking for one correct answer, it's not in this book. Shneidman does an excellent job of showing how ultimately all psychological questions can be answered with just two words: "It depends!" Depending upon your own perspective, you could argue convincingly that Arthur kills himself because he was, for example, mildly autistic (and untreated), clinically depressed (and inappropriately treated), selfish and narcissistic (attention seeking), controlling and dominant (had to have the last word through his own death), or traumatized as a child by rigid, unloving parents that divorced young.
Overall, if you want to see first hand how some of the premier suicidologists in the world can honestly, yet amicably, disagree, check this excellent, quick read text. It won't give you the answers, but it sure will help you understand better that suicide and psychological health are complex matters that we may never truly understand.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Autopsy of a Suicidal Mind
Autopsy of a Suicidal Mind is a uniquely intensive psychological analysis of a suicidal mind. In this poignant scientific study, Edwin S. Shneidman, a founder of the field of suicidology, assembles an extraordinary cast of eight renowned experts to analyze the suicidal materials, including a ten-page suicide note, given to him by a distraught mother looking for insights into her son's tragic death. The psychological autopsy centers on the interviews conducted by Shneidman with Arthur's mother, father, brother, sister, best friend, ex-wife, girlfriend, psychotherapist, and attending physician.To gain some understanding of this man's intense psychological pain and to examine what may have been done to save his tortured life, Shneidman approached the top suicide experts in the country to analyze the note and interviews: Morton Silverman, Robert E. Litman, Jerome Motto, Norman L. Farberow, John T. Maltsberger, Ronald Maris, David Rudd, and Avery D. Weisman. Each of the eight experts offers a unique perspective on Arthur's tragic fate, and the sum of their conclusions constitutes an extraordinary psychological autopsy.This book is the first of its kind and a remarkable contribution to the study of suicide. Mental health professionals, students of human nature, and persons whose lives have been touched by this merciless topic will be mesmerized and enlightened by this unique volume. An epistemological tour de force, it will speak to anyone who is concerned with human self-destruction.
Get 13% OFF
Click here for more information about Autopsy of a Suicidal Mind
No comments:
Post a Comment