Colin Tatz - The Sealed Box of Suicide: The Contexts of Self-Death

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Writing a book about suicide, and having something new to say, is a tough business. The men and women we thank have helped with grace and kindness. A few have commented on ideas, assumptions and judgments. Several provided sources.

Our warmest thanks to Hannah Andrevski, Vicken Babkenian, Michael Barnes, Douglas Booth, Amanda Bresnan, Belinda Carpenter, Alain Coltier, Panayiotis Diamadis, Michael Diamond, Armen Gakavian, Meher Grigorian, Gillian Heller, Herbert Herzog, Ian Hickie, Winton Higgins, Wendy Johnson, Michael Kral, Margaret Macallister, Ian Marsh, John Mendoza, Jessica Palmer, Nicole Roberts, Michael Robertson, David Robinson, Alan Rosen, Kim Ryan, Jennifer Schultz Moore, Said Shahtahmasebi, Linda Shields, Gordon Tait, Akiva Tatz, Corey Tatz, Karen Tatz, Paul Tatz, Tracey Westerman, Asher Westropp-Evans, Jennifer White and Lesley Yee.

Sebastian Rosenberg reviewed the entire manuscript, made critical and useful comments, added sources and helped shape the final text. We heeded his wisdom. Ross Mellick gave us several throwaway lines that became long paragraphs. Michael Dudley provided significant sources and suggestions. Pam Tatz sorted out the citations and footnotes. Sandra Tatz gave her sage advice, time and editing skills to this project. Shinjini Chatterjee, Jayanthi Krishnamoorthi and Muruga Prashanth Rajendran handled the books production with great style.

A special thanks to Belinda Carpenter and Gordon Tait who brought Colin Tatz into the team that was awarded an Australian Research Grant award, DP 150101402, Investigating the coronial determination of suicide as a category of death, 20152019.

Suicides often, by the very nature of their death in our society, put their skeletons in their survivors closets.

Edwin Shneidman [American clinical psychologist and suicidologist, 19182009]

Suicide is a form of murderpremeditated murder. It isnt something you do the first time you think of doing it. It takes getting used to. And you need the means, the opportunity, the motive. A successful suicide demands good organisation and a cool head, both of which are usually incompatible with the suicidal state of mind.

Susanne Kaysen [American novelist]

The purpose of the book is to examine why society reacts so strongly and so badly to suicide; to evoke fresh thinking about a taboo by bringing to light the external and contextual factors that impinge on self-death; to canvass the conventional biomedical model of suicide as illness.

Readers need to know what this book is and what it isnt.

It is not a textbook but it could be instructive for the professionals who deal with suicide and for the families who have lost a member. We hope that it speaks to a public that is curious or simply interested in finding out more about this bewildering behaviour. The book is not a polemic in the diatribe sense, nor an attack on the medical profession and the suicide prevention agencies. Some may read it that way and some will do so, but to question, even sharply, is not to attack. It is not a treatise on suicide theory, nor a research essay based on systematic investigation (apart from the chapter on Australian coroners and aspects of Australian Aboriginal genocide). It is not the outcome of a set of clipboard questionnaire responses. It is not based on official suicide statistics and their analyses, much of which is dubious rather than contentious. In no way is it a belittling of religious beliefs.

The essence of suicide, if it is to be found, requires looking at individual cases and circumstances, not in official figures. But this is a critical work that examines the merits and faults of professions that purport to comprehend the nature of suicide and insist they can prevent the phenomenon.