The 'Our Encounters with - ' series collect together unnmediated, unsanitised narratives by service-users, past service-users and carers. These stories of direct experience will be of great benefit to those interested in narrative enquiry, and to those studying and practising in the field of mental health. The collection bring together a range of voices on the theme of suicide - those who have been suicidal, along side the friends, family and staff who have lived and worked with them. Too often the rhetoric of 'suicidology' is occupied only by those who have never had personal experience of suicidality. The first-person voice is strangely absent. These frank accounts go some way to correcting the balance. We hope that these narratives will be helpful for people who may have had similar encounters, or are harbouring future suicidal intentions, and for those who care for them personally or professionally; that readers can use the stories in the book to make better sense of their own experiences and decisions.Ultimately we hope that the book will facilitate a more empathic understanding of the experiences of others generally, and of people who were close to and have been lost to suicide.

Table of Contents:
Contents Forewords Professor Gillian Bendelow and Dr Katherine Johnson 1 Introduction Alec Grant, Judith Haire, Brendan Stone Witnessing suicide 2 Violent impact Karl Davis In the wake of suicide 3 Pamela Pamela Kirk 4 Phillipa Phillipa Brook 5 A lesson learned all too well, perhaps? Stacey Autote 6 From sisterhood to suicide: The story of a suicide loss Cath Walsh 7 Untitled Catherine Carley 8 Gone but not forgotten Georgina Smith 9 Untitled Alex 10 Suicidal wisdom Jayne Stewart 11 Pepe Karen McDonald 12 Living on the edge Abigal Muchecheti 13 The other half Jo Rhodes 14 D Gilly Graham 15 A lifetime changed in a moment Neil Ritchie 16 Self portrait Lost Soul Thinking suicide 17 My father's war Sid Prise 18 Choosing to be Ruth Kilner 19 The ultimate barrier - for all those who never made it back Tessa Glaze 20 Semi-suicidal Helen Harrop 21 Untitled Naomi Surviving suicide 22 Suicide - my story Anonymous 23 The secrets of suicide Dawn Willis 24 The suicide not is not my story (or the suicide note does not play my song) Dolly Sen 25 Phoenix to ashes Madame de Merteuil 26 The day I went to the meadow Felicity Stennett 27 'Con Hearse' Kathryn 28 "The silence of suicide" Michael Skinner Defending suicide 29 In defense of suicide Kathryn Rosenfeld 30 A red sadness: My Dad's Story Chrissie Hinde 31 An epilogue: suicide and sense making Alec Grant Appendices Contributors Bibliography