Review: Death Is Not the Answer: Understanding Suicide and the Ways to Prevent It

Death Is Not the Answer: Understanding Suicide and the Ways to Prevent It by Anjali Chhabria
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Believe it or not, India is the suicide capital of the world. Out of every 3 suicides committed in the world, 1 happens in India which is appalling. Kudos to Dr Anjali Chhabria for having penned down such a book of great importance. Suicide is a topic which no one talks about, because there is so much stigma around the topic of mental illness and suicide. Another pathetic fact is that most of the people who commit suicide in India are the youth between the 15-29 age bracket. I am wondering how many lives could have been saved if this book was written 10 years back.

Death is Not the Answer is the most holistic book that I have ever come across on the subject of mental illness and suicide. Anjali has done a great job at explaining the origins of suicidal tendencies in us. In most of the cases, impulsive suicide is rare. Most of the people who commit suicide give clues, which should not go unheard or taken lightly. She starts the book by giving a great historical background of suicide dating back to as much as 2500 years, citing the examples from the scriptures of various religions and history.

The case studies that are given in this book are her own patients' stories.It is frightening to note that even a 6 year old girl disclosed suicidal thoughts during one of the play therapy sessions with her, just because, her elder brother was given more preference by her parents when it comes to milk. It was hair raising to read other stories as well.Ranging from break-ups and dysfunctional family relationships to drug and alcohol abuse this book has it all

Major Depressive disorder is believed to be the major culprit in driving people to commit suicide. But that is not the only one. Various other disorders such as Psychosis;be it Schizophrenia or bipolar, untreated Generalized Anxiety Disorder, PTSD(Post Ttraumatic Stress Disorder), Body Dysmorphic disorder and other personality disorders can also prompt a person to take the drastic step of ending one's life.

The book also talks about the neurobiology of suicide. She talks about the 'suicide circuitry' in the brain.Yes, some are prone to suicide than others . The neurotransmitter serotonin has a great role to play in the committing of suicide. She explains how using the fMRI technology the neuro scientists have observed hyper activity in the medial pre-frontal cortex, which leads to excessive rumination if unchecked can lead to suicide. Also the hippocampus becomes smaller as the neurons die due to severe suicidal depression. She also explains how genetics also plays a role in the suicide. For an instance, a mutation in the SKA2 gene can make one person more vulnerable or susceptible to suicide.

The cognitive triad of worthlessness, helplessness and hopelessness propounded by the great Aaron Beck was very interesting to know. It takes all the 3 aforementioned features to force a person to commit suicide. Also I came to know about the Beck's suicide intent scale. I did not know before that there are questionnaires to assess the risk of suicide in a patient.There are various degrees of risk of suicide ranging from minimal, mild and moderate to severe and extreme.

Medicines are not the only resort for people with suicide tendencies.Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Dialectic Behavior therapy(especially in case of borderline personality) , mindfulness meditation and other forms of counselling are some of the options available to explore, based on the severity of the case. This book is filled with lot of hope for people suffering from mental illness.


On a final note, I want to say that, this book is the need of the hour in India. I wish Dr Anjali Chhabria comes with more books like this. This book is for everybody who want to help their friends or loved one's or themselves even to cope up with the psychological problems. Life is meant to be lived, and a precious life cannot be wasted by committing suicide just because we are going through some storms. Thank you!

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