Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Slaby, a psychiatrist specializing in depression and crisis intervention, presents psychological profiles of eight severely depressed adolescents who attempted or committed suicide, drawing on the teens' journals and diaries and sessions with families and friends. He and Garfinkel detail the manifestations of adolescent depression, describe families' common pathways through the pain to survival, and offer guidelines for recognizing and working with suicidal youth. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

The responses of eight families who have lost a child to suicide are examined here in case studies by Slaby, a New York psychiatrist specializing in depression and crisis intervention, and freelance writer Garfinkel, whose specialty is advocacy issues. Although the profiles of the distraught teens and their families are varied, they share one important feature: clues to the adolescents' behavior were almost always overlooked or not taken seriously. In his samples of counseling sessions, Slaby shares clinical experiences that have led to the formulation of practical strategies for use by parents and other interventionists. This treatment of a complex subject considers the differing perceptions of life events that may trigger suicidal thoughts in teens, especially in those who are depressed. The book is a call to give suicidal teens the attention--familial and medical--they so desperately need. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

CHOICE Review

It is impossible to feel firsthand the suffering of a young person contemplating suicide. But after reading No One Saw My Pain, the reader will gain deeper understanding of the emotional wounds that drive teenagers to take their own lives. Slaby is a psychiatrist who has explored suicide for more than 20 years. He and coauthor Garfinkel take the reader on a riveting journey through the lives of eight troubled teens who attempted or committed suicide. Sitting with their families through therapy sessions, the reader gradually discovers the unrecognized, agonizing pain and loss of control that precedes suicide. The case studies deal with situations ranging from parental abuse to schizophrenia, from substance abuse to depression. The authors discuss themes from suicide notes in which teens express self-blame, pain, advice for others, secrets, and repentance. The pain and the reaction path of survivors are also addressed, with common responses highlighted. The final chapter provides guidelines for working with suicidal youths. An excellent, informative book. Undergraduate through professional. M. A. Gillis; Elmira College

Kirkus Book Review

Despite his book's misleading title, Slaby's experiences in counseling grieving parents raise important questions about why so many youths' cries for help go unanswered. More than 2,000 American teenagers kill themselves every year, and one in ten experiences some form of severe depression during the high school years. Slaby, a psychiatrist specializing in depression and crisis intervention, profiles seven families responding to the loss of a teenager and one case of failed suicide. Only in the last case do we have access to the child's feelings, and that discussion adds little to our general understanding because the child, from a born-again Christian family, could only insist that God had intervened to save his life when he tried to hang himself. So although Slaby purports to tell us ``why teens kill themselves,'' interviewing their parents and siblings tells us more about how families cope with their own pain. These physical and emotional reactions to loss range from isolation and denial to anger and blame. Some families become stronger in coping with their grief, others fall apart from the stress of self- accusation. Finally, in the section ``Working with Suicidal Youth,'' Slaby focuses on some of the reasons why our health care system, families, communities, and churches are sadly inadequate in responding to teenage depression. ``Almost half the teens who kill themselves,'' he writes, ``do so within three to six months of visiting their doctor for some vague medical reason.'' Few cries for help are followed up by doctors, teachers, suicide hotlines, or even the police. But it's not just the ``safety net'' that's failing. Slaby suggests that today's generation faces stresses- -divorce, drugs, violence, and economic instability--that bypassed previous generations, and these factors require a whole new set of coping strategies. ``Surviving Suicide'' would be a more apt, if less sensational, title for this casebook of eight families.