Suicide and Attempted Suicide: Methods and Consequences

by Geo Stone

Hello there. This site provides some information that is not in the print version of my book, as well as about 40 percent of the book's text. The publisher dropped some of the material because the book was too long, some because they considered it too academic, some because they felt it was too gory. To the left is the original dust jacket; it was also pulled by the publisher. Probably too suggestive. Professional and reader reviews can be found at Amazon.com or elsewhere on this website.

You’re welcome to download the pages here (text, graphs, tables) for your personal use, or link to it; but don't copy it wholesale---say, more than 500 words---to your website without my permission.

What's new: (1) The book is out of print, but I have recently gotten the rights back from the publisher, and am working on a revision. Until then, you may be able to borrow a copy through interlibrary loan---check with your public or university library's reference librarian. Please do not send email asking when it will be ready or in what format it will be available---I don't know. Check back here occasionally for updates.


(2) A number of you have written descriptions of your suicide attempts. Those collected experiences are now on the website. They give a sense of real-world suicide attempts that complements my academic study.


What you can do to make reliable suicide information more widely available:

(1) Continue sending me a description of your suicide attempt(s). I will post them (anonymously) on this website, the ASH/ASM (alt.suicide.holiday/methods) websites, or both. This information is useful since my data are gathered mostly from medical journals and books, which are not noted for their vivid language. For example, one ASH email reported the writer’s suicide attempt with potassium chloride injection (“...it burned like hell, now I have blisters, my arm is swollen and the pain is beyond belief...”) much more memorably than I had done “...produces severe pain at the injection site...”).

(2) Please let me know if you find any errors here or in the book, or have suggestions/links/resources that you think should be added---all of us are smarter than any of us.

--Geo Stone

You can send email to me at geostone@hotmail.com ; however, due to volume of mail (and the fact that I tend to operate at the "pile" level of organization) I can't promise you a reply.




  • Book's Annotated Table of Contents and links to selected chapters

  • Further Reading

  • Graphs: Suicide methods (selected U.S. data)

  • Tables: Suicide rates (selected international and U.S. data) and book-specific tables that were deleted from the print version

  • Suicide methods: photos and drawings that were deleted from the print version (WARNING: GORY)

  • Accounts of suicide attempts by readers [new, April 2007]

  • Other suicide links

  • Book reviews and letters

  • Typos and errors in the book