When it is Darkest
Rory O’Connor
This book will untangle the complex reasons behind suicide and dispel unhelpful myths. For those trying to help someone vulnerable, it will provide indispensable advice on communication, stressing the importance of listening to fears and anxieties without judgement. For those who are struggling to get through the tragedy of suicide, it will help you find strength in the darkest of places.
Best for: Anyone wanting an accessible, practical guide that combines the most up-to-date psychology of suicide with advice on how to help and how to talk about it.
Rethinking Suicide
Craig Bryan
Rethinking Suicide interweaves the author’s firsthand experiences with explanations of scientific findings to reveal the limitations of widely-used practices and to introduce new perspectives that may trigger a paradigm shift in how we understand and prevent suicide.
Best for: Professionals and commissioners who want a critical, evidence-led rethink of what works in suicide prevention, and why some approaches fail.
Reasons to Stay Alive
Matt Haig
Like nearly one in five people, Matt Haig suffers from depression. Reasons to Stay Alive is Matt’s inspiring account of how, minute by minute and day by day, he overcame the disease with the help of reading, writing, and the love of his parents and his girlfriend (and now-wife), Andrea. And eventually, he learned to appreciate life all the more for it.
Best for: Anyone experiencing depression or anxiety (or supporting someone who is), who wants a hopeful, relatable lived-experience account.
Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide
Kay R. Jamison
Weaving together a historical and scientific exploration of the subject with personal essays on individual suicides, Jamison brings her remarkable compassion, literary skill, knowledge and research to this devastating problem. This book helps us to understand the suicidal mind, to recognise and come to the aid of those at risk, and to comprehend the profound effects on those left behind.
Best for: Readers wanting a broad, compassionate overview that blends research, history and real-world stories to build understanding and reduce stigma.
Why People Die by Suicide
Thomas Joiner
In the wake of a suicide, the most troubling questions are invariably the most difficult to answer: How could we have known? What could we have done? And always, unremittingly, why? Written by a clinical psychologist whose own life has been touched by suicide, this book offers the clearest account ever given of why some people choose to die. Drawing on extensive clinical and epidemiological evidence, as well as personal experience, Thomas Joiner brings a comprehensive understanding to seemingly incomprehensible behaviour.
Best for: Clinicians, students and researchers looking for a clear, theory-driven explanation of suicidal behaviour, grounded in evidence.