Suggested Readings for Suicide Survivors

[David Baxter PhD]

Suggested Readings for Suicide Survivors
by Therese Borchard, Beyond Blue
Thursday August 4, 2011

Since many of you Beyond Blue readers, have lost a loved one to suicide, and since a few people in my community have taken their lives this summer, I thought I would publish a thorough list of resources compiled by Dan Fields and the Samaritans. You can find them at samaritanshope.org.

In addition to plenty of reading material, he lists three of the best websites for survivors of suicide loss:

• Surviving Suicide Loss, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
• Suicide Loss Survivors, American Association of Suicidology
• Parents of Suicides and Friends & Families of Suicides

One of my additions is the Why Suicide? blog by Eric Marcus, whom I interviewed a while back on Beyond Blue.

Here is his list of books:

• Aftershock: Help, Hope, and Healing in the Wake of Suicide by David Cox and Candy Arrington (B&H Publishing Group, 2003)
• After Suicide: A Ray of Hope for Those Left Behind by Eleanora Betsy Ross (Da Capo Press, 2002)
• After Suicide Loss: Coping with Your Grief by Bob Baugher and Jack Jordan (2009)
• Dying to Be Free: A Healing Guide for Families after a Suicide by Beverly Cobain and Jean Larch (Hazelden Publishing, 2006)
• The Empty Chair: The Journey of Grief after Suicide by Beryl S. Glover (In-Sight Books, 2000)
• Getting Back to Life When Grief Won’t Heal by Phyllis Kosminsky (McGraw-Hill, 2007)
• Healing after the Suicide of a Loved One by Ann Smolin and John Guinan (Fireside, 1993)
• In the Wake of Suicide: Stories of the People Left Behind by Victoria Alexander (Jossey-Bass, 1998)
• A Long-Shadowed Grief: Suicide and Its Aftermath by Harold Ivan Smith (Cowley Publications, 2007)
• The Mourning Handbook by Helen Fitzgerald (Fireside, 1995)
• My Son, My Son: A Guide to Healing after Death, Loss, or Suicide by Iris Bolton (Bolton Press, 2001)
• Myths about Suicide by Thomas Joiner (Harvard University Press, 2010)
• Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide by Kay Redfield Jamison (Vintage Books, 2000)
• No Time to Say Goodbye: Surviving the Suicide of a Loved One by Carla Fine (Broadway Books, 2000)
• November of the Soul: The Enigma of Suicide by George Howe Colt (Scribner, 2006; includes a 100-page section on survivors)
• Reaching Out after Suicide: What’s Helpful and What’s Not by Linda H. Kilburn (KP Associates, 2008)
• Rocky Roads: The Journeys of Families through Suicide Grief by Michelle Linn-Gust (Chellehead Works, 2010)
• Seeking Hope: Stories of the Suicide Bereaved, edited by Michelle Linn-Gust and Julie Cerel (Chellehead Works, 2011)
• Silent Grief: Living in the Wake of Suicide (revised edition) by Christopher Lukas and Henry M. Seiden (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2007)
• A Special Scar: The Experiences of People Bereaved by Suicide by Alison Wertheimer (Brunner-Routledge, 2001)
• Suicide Survivors: A Guide for Those Left Behind by Adina Wrobleski (Afterwords, 2002)
• Suicide Survivors’ Handbook: A Guide for the Bereaved and Those Who Wish to Help Them by Trudy Carlson (Benline Press, 2000)
• Those They Left Behind: Interviews, Stories, Essays, and Poems by Survivors of Suicide by Karen Mueller Bryson (Lulu.com, 2006)
• Time Unfinished: Loss, Grief, and Healing by Sandie Rotberg (AuthorHouse, 2008; poetry collection by a survivor)
• Touched by Suicide: Hope and Healing after Loss by Michael F. Myers and Carla Fine (Gotham, 2006)
• Understanding Your Suicide Grief: Ten Essential Touchstones for Finding Hope and Healing Your Heart by Alan D. Wolfelt (Companion Press, 2009)
• Why Suicide? Questions and Answers about Suicide, Suicide Prevention, and Coping with the Suicide of Someone You Know (revised edition) by Eric Marcus (HarperOne, 2010)