4 out of 4 stars
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There are some things that people prefer not to discuss, and one of those topics is suicide. According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States with more than 40,000 suicides annually. Added to these devastating statistics are the estimated 25 suicide attempts for every completed suicide. With statistics like these, the majority of Americans probably know someone who has attempted or committed suicide. When someone chooses to take his or her own life, friends and family always want to know why he/she made that choice and if there was anything they could have done to prevent it. Unfortunately, for many cases, those questions can never be answered. Nancy Xia’s book Leap: Into the Mind of a Suicide tells the author’s own story of suicidality, shedding light on her thoughts and feelings as she struggled with mental illness, pressure from well-meaning family members, and the recovery process.
Leap is a non-fiction memoir that chronicles the author’s thoughts and feelings as she transitions from passive suicidality (wishing you were dead or had never been born) to attempting suicide and then into the journey toward recovery. This window into her mind shows how she perceived others’ words and actions. No matter how well-meaning, some expressions of love and devotion exacerbate feelings of guilt and self-blame. Sometimes therapy backfires. Sometimes the side effects of medications end up making a patient feel worse.
The book is thorough in its scope, talking about both the causes and the effects. There is a good deal of information on mental illness, including a special section in the back of the book that tries to answer common questions about some of the conditions discussed in the text. On the other end, the book doesn’t shy away from talking about the effects of a suicide attempt, including physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual impacts on the individual as well as impacts on the family. There is discussion of the implications for romantic relationships and even some discussion on the financial impacts of the suicide attempt on the author’s family.
Yet another important aspect of this book is the way it links culture to the author’s experiences. The author was born in China but had been living in Canada for quite a while before her suicide attempt. Throughout the book, she discusses how her family’s culture framed not only her own perspective but also their responses to her struggles and her recovery. Because this integration of culture helps the reader understand the author herself better, it personalizes her and informs the reader about her journey to and through suicidality. It’s an excellent bridge between information and engagement in the author’s story.
With all this information, the book is still very brief. Condensing so much sometimes causes the writing to become a little choppy, and I noticed one or two very minor mechanical errors in the text. However, I feel that the book’s successful delivery of its message and its raw emotionality trump these minor flaws. Leap by Nancy Xia has certainly earned 4 out of 4 stars. I would like to recommend it to everyone, but I feel I should mention that those who might be triggered by a detailed discussion of suicide might want to use caution.
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Leap
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