Our Encounters with Suicide

Dr Alec Grant is a Principal Lecturer in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Brighton. He qualified as a mental health nurse in the mid-1970s and went on to study psychology, social science and psychotherapy. He is widely published in the fields of ethnography, autoethnography, clinical supervision, cognitive behavioural psychotherapy, and communication and interpersonal skills. For the last few years, his research interests have been in the area of narrative inquiry and writing, especially around mental health survival. Judith Haire was born in Kent and had a successful academic and professional career. At thirty seven her career was cut short when she experienced an acute psychotic episode. Once recovered she worked in the voluntary sector and studied at college. Judith has been published in Mental Health Practice, Community Care, Your Voice in Sheffield Mental Health magazines and her first book Don't Mind Me waspublished in 2008 (Chipmunkapublishing) She wrote it to help others as well as herself, and to inform mental health professionals and anyone wanting to gain an insight into mental illness. Judith contributed to Mental Health Publishing And Empowerment by Jason Pegler, (Chipmunkapublishing, 2009), Our Encounters With Madness (Edited by Grant, Biley & Walker, PCCS Books, 2011) and Soul Journey by Lisa Cherry, (Wilson King Publishing 2012). The late Dr Francis C. Biley initially trained as a mental health and an adult nurse and after holding a range of clinical and practice development posts moved into undergraduate and postgraduate research and teaching. He co-edited Our Encounters With Madness (PCCS Books 2011) with Alec Grant and Hannah Walker. He was Associate Professor in the Centre for Qualitative Research at Bournemouth University, UK , Adjunct Professor of Nursing at Seton Hall University, New Jersey, USA and a Governor of a local Foundation Trust hospital. Brendan Stone has lived with mental health problems for nearly 40 years. He lives in Sheffield and has worked extensively with users of mental health services.

Our encounters with Suicide is a book which should be compulsory reading for anyone who comes into contact with people who have been affected by suicide. These personal stories told with such inspiring honesty and deep sense of humanity enlighten some very difficult issues. They hold out some powerful truths which we all should listen to in how we live our lives personally and professionally. Paul Jenkins, Chief Executive, Rethink Mental Illness This deeply moving and provocative book gives voice to one of society's ancient and contemporary least understood enigmas. For the reader the stories captured within this volume highlight the strength and endurance of the human spirit in the face of both existential and neurotic suffering. These expert narratives teach us that true experiential knowledge is gained in the swampy low lands and understood through reflection in and on action. This book speaks to anyone that considers themselves to be engaged in the act of becoming human. We rise by that from which we fall. Dawn Freshwater, Professor of Mental Health and Psychotherapist.