The Enigma of Suicide: A Timely Investigation into the Causes, the Possibilities for Prevention and the Paths to Healing

by George Howe Colt

An investigation into the perplexing and painful problem of suicide examines the causes and consequences of suicide in America, assesses possible prevention measures, and discusses approaches to healing for those touched by the deaths of loved ones

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Death, History, Essays

576 pages, Paperback

First published February 21, 1991

About the author

George Howe Colt is the bestselling author of November of the Soul The Enigma of Suicide and The Big House, which was a National Book Award finalist and a New York Times notable book. He is married to the American author Anne Fadiman and lives with his family in Western Massachusetts.

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Finally finished this one. Okay fair warning, if you plan on tackling this book, be prepared that it's not going to be a quick read. This is a huge book, with small type and small spaces. It is chock full of every aspect of suicide. Methods used, history of, survivors of suicide, survivors of a loved one committing suicide, the right to die movement, the legal aspect, the way society views suicide throughout different eras, adolescent suicide, elderly suicide, accidental suicide, warning signs, hereditary suicide, prevention, depression, treatment, and pretty much anything you can think of suicide related. This has got to be the authoritive book on the subject. It hits you with a lot of statistics, a lot of firsthand accounts. There are time where the amount of information contained within is overwhelming and tedious. However, I truly feel I am better educated about suicide than I was before. Excellent reference guide. My copy is highlighted to the hilt and will no doubt stay on my bookshelf for many years to come.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picked this up at a time when I was involved with a woman who was suicidal, and for anyone who wonders about what goes through the minds of those contemplating suicide, or about how it affects those around the person who kills herself, or about the larger cultural meanings of suicide in the United States, this book is indispensible. Colt has assembled an intimidating amount of research and interviews and the result is thorough, at times thoroughly depressing, but mostly enlightening and revelatory. It offers hope in the old fashioned way of offering an education in a subject, and I felt I better understood what my then-girlfriend was coping with after having read this book.

[Danielle Wolfus · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is odd. I almost put it down for good after reading the first section about adolescent suicide. There was a lot of blame cast (not necessarily from the author himself) on parents of kids who have passed from suicide. I would caution parents who are considering this book that it can seem really insensitive. The cases in the beginning were all very old and outdated as well.

This also reminds me to mention that although it has been updated it is now again out of date as most of the data stops in the very early 2000’s.

The middle portion was basically an encyclopedia of every little detail and historical information ever told about suicide. Whoa.

However the tone changed dramatically at the end in the section about survivors. It was like I was reading a book written by a different author. It was much kinder, compassionate, and more current.

Overall quite an affecting book with definite ups and downs.

[Maria Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Dedicated and Comprehensive Guide to Suicide
The Enigma of Suicide is a comprehensive historical deep dive into the topic of suicide. It is the culmination of over ten years of Colt’s research and begins by framing suicide within its cultural and historical contexts. The book traverses time in a back and forth manner to illuminate the various tenets of this enigma and how it has shifted over time, yet seems to run in a more circular pattern in terms of belief systems. The most compelling experts in the field will tell us that there are no clear answers. Also, suicide is addressed via all of its definitions from the sensitive adolescent who doesn’t fit in with their world, to the military soldier who bravely throws himself onto a live grenade, willingly sacrificing his own life to save the other members of his platoon, to a Japanese honor killing, to the elderly terminally ill patient who is abused daily by a medical system that will not allow him to pass, to the unexpected death of a seemingly happy adult. All of these examples are examples of suicide yet our definition as a society remains stubbornly myopic.
Colt interviews both suicide attempters and survivors, sorts through vast expert testimony and various points of view, covers various legislative attempts to control a person’s choice to take their life, looks into the right to die movement and at the limitations of suicide prevention programs.
This book will not be for everyone. Reading it cover to cover requires an open-mind and a willingness to suspend buying into prevalent suicide myths such as medications, therapy, and other mainstream treatment never cause more harm than good, only mentally ill people kill themselves, triggers and causes are one and the same, and vocalizing suicidal intent is simply a cry for attention only. Some may not yet be at the point where this book can be adequately absorbed and processed and some never will be. Yet, this subject matter is so tightly woven into the fabric of any society that refusal to consider it is detrimental to a healthy and functional society.
As a survivor, asking why is an integral part of the grieving/mourning process yet accepting that there will never be a neat and tidy answer is a critical part of the healing process. In a world where increasing numbers of us are left in the wake of a loved one’s death by their own hand, it is vital to work to understand to the best of our ability what each suicide means and how that meaning affects each and every one of us.
This book will change the way you look at suicide.
BRB Rating: Read It.

[Shireen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this ebook as background reading for writing my latest novel during National Novel Writing Month. I'd hunted around for a comprehensive, well-written book on suicide, and this was it according to a few sources. It's rather large, which fortunately one has no sense of with an ebook. No intimidation factor! Yet it's an easy read for such a fact-filled ebook. I didn't read the whole of it because there were certain sections that were not relevant to my novel. But I assume that if they were as well-researched and as clearly written as the rest, then they were excellent.

He covers a lot of historical ground -- it's fascinating and eye-opening and brings home the point that suicide has been with us for millennia. We modern people are not special in that way. He also addresses some of the big questions, like if the media report on suicide, will copycats flourish? Or why do people suicide? He notes that the people most likely to suicide are in the age range of my protagonist (I had guessed well) and that the Inuit in Canada's far north have the highest suicide rates in the world.

I liked his use of detailed true examples for each section, of how he profiled people who suicided or, later on in the book, a person who was left behind by suicide. He also profiled suicide survivors. He goes into meticulous details about the events leading up to their death (or surviving the death of a spouse) and also what happened afterwards, including how the community and media reacted. Yet it's not boring at all. It's like reading a story, but one that is very real. The first true example I read, I did so on the subway. Not a good idea as it affected me greatly, that's how powerful Colt's storytelling ability is.

If you're at all interested in suicide, want to know more about this terrible scourge, or understand it if you know someone who has suicided, then I highly recommend this book.

(Yes, I know, I've turned suicide into a verb. But "commit suicide" is a phrase that people in this area want to get away from, and I think instead of using cumbersome phrases, turning suicide into a verb, which is a natural kind of change in the language, is better.)

[Meaghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This took me a very long time to read, in part because of its length and subject matter and in part because I owned a copy and had to give priority to books I'd borrowed from the library and had to give back. I was very impressed with it.

November of the Soul is a comprehensive study of suicide, exploring it from psychological, sociological, medical, historical and legal angles and probably other angles I can't think of at the moment. In addition to being a very fine work of scholarship, with extensive notes and bibliography, it was very engagingly written. I felt like I actually knew Justin Spoonhour and all the other people Mr. Colt was writing about, and the chapters were very thought-provoking. I would recommend November of the Soul to any intelligent adult -- one need not be personally acquainted with suicide to appreciate its value.

[Mike]

As with Night Falls Fast, I found myself feeling depressed and enticed when reading this, until I was too exhausted to continue forcing a confrontation with the material. I got about 200 pages in before showing myself a little compassion and stopping. I'm donating this book to the Prison Library Project; it may be put to better use there as a resource, a therapy, a source of help, and a comfort than triggering my ass from the shelf.

[Elisse · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book explores many issues relating to suicide. The author write compelling descriptions of several cases as well as investigating many of the "big picture" issues. Important issues include: contagion, cause, prevention programs, the impact on survivors. A large book that does a good job of investigating a large topic.

[Bill H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The absolute best book on the topic of Suicide. Thoroughly researched, well put together and written in a tone that is perfect for the layperson. A fun read on an interesting topic.

[Shona · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read and indispensable for an approach toward understanding suicide. I cannot imagine a better book on the subject.

[Christopher Quolke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was quite a read. I learned a great deal from this book, but it was a difficult read. It challenged me to keep on keeping on, and it made me examine how I have dealt with loss in my life.

[Mary Havens · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want the deepest dive into the morality and ethics of suicide, suicide prevention, the right to life movement/s, read this book. Holt tried his best to unwrap the cause of suicide as well as all aspects of it without a set conclusion. But, instead, he found an extremely complicated decision so individual to those that make it.
Every story was heartbreaking, even those that chose their end due to illness. Honestly, if someone was talking of ending their life, they should read this book. It's a tome so it would take quite a while and may sway someone from making an impulsive decision. Still, those that are determined to end their life -- no amount of reading will change their mind.
Even though the researched chapters were the hardest to read (very little was left out), they were probably the best, especially the one on ethics and the philosophy behind suicide. Similarly, the chapter on religious views on suicide and the history were also interesting. It's easy to think that modern views of suicide were always "the only view" but that is not true. And very limited. Even within Christianity alone, views on suicide by the church have changed.
If you are interested in knowing more about suicide, I highly recommend this book. But give yourself plenty of time - it's easy to put it down and pick it back up. And it's a heavy subject so you may need the time to breathe and read some lighthearted fare as you pause to reflect.

[Carlos · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was not the first book on suicide that I’ve read but I do feel like it has been the most illuminating. Colt delves deeply into the seeming bewildering complexity of suicide. Starting from the cluster of suicides in New England in the 1980’s that focused the attention of the American public on the increase in the rate of adolescent suicide, Colt goes through everything from the latest psycho-biological understanding of suicide, to the different historical and cultural understanding of suicide, to the rush to treat it with a prescription pad, to its uneasy relationship with euthanasia to the crippling bereavement of the relatives left behind. Along the way I was pleased to find Colt question everything, from the actual effectiveness of suicide hotlines [particularly those initiated with good intent but a lack of expertise], to whether the strict protocols for euthanasia are actually followed and the thorny question of whether there is such a thing as a “rational” suicide. Likewise, Colt’s decision to include detailed cases of several suicides and a survivor’s road to recovery, served to humanize the psychological toll that can be lost amidst statistics. While I did feel that some of the historical information was unnecessarily meticulous, I would still recommend it to the curious, but persistent, reader [this is a 600-page book after all].

[Randee Boulay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is obviously a heavy topic to read/learn about, but I chose to take on this book because 1) I like reading about science and history with mental-health related topics, and 2) having more comprehensive knowledge on this topic will be helpful in my career as a therapist in the future.

It took me a long time to get through this book and I will say that I had forgotten much of the smaller details each time I returned to it. I think it was beneficial to learn about the history of perspectives on suicide, how that led to today’s compassionate approach. I also liked that it discussed prevention and ended by highlighting survivors.

My only drawback is that it probably needs to be updated again as this edition was published in 2006, so much of the scientific information and information on resources is probably outdated now.

[Robert Bogue]

For many people, suicide is something they’ve considered at some point in their life. They’re likely to know someone who has died by suicide by the end of their life. More disturbingly, they’ll rarely, if ever, talk about it. November of the Soul: The Enigma of Suicide seeks to unravel the mystery around suicide and to lay out the truth, as we know it, about suicide. From the simple answer that most suicide deaths don’t occur in the fall or winter to more complicated nuances of this human experience, the misperceptions we hold are gently but firmly corrected. (See Review of Suicidology, 2000 for peak suicide deaths occurring in spring.)

Read more

[Fabrizio Ori · Rating 3 out of 5]

After a few years I managed to finish an early version of this monumental book, released in the 90s. Chapters with case studies/life stories are poignant and fantastic, whereas the endless statistics and historical chapters are hard to read and not appealing at all.

Probably conceived for an academic audience rather than mainstream market.

[P.S. Winn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although we may never understand any of the aspects of suicide, this book takes a look at the subject with compassion and as much understanding as you can get. Anyone whose life has been touched by a suicide should pick this up and find a bit of comfort.

[Lou Fillari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dense read. Lots of words. Both sad and happy words.

[Lisa]

not at HCPL

[Lane]

It doesn't feel appropriate to give this book a rating, because of the subject matter. But it was eye-opening and I'm glad I read it.