According to this documentary, a suicide is attempted every minute in America, and a successful attempt is made every 17 minutes. Suicide outranks homicide as our leading cause of death, and at least once in our lives most of us will consider it. The video's director, Nila Bogue, survived a suicide attempt at age 20. She later crisscrossed the country, interviewed 100 men and women and selected six subjects who nearly ended their lives. We meet an older man shattered by the death of his beloved wife, a Mexican-American recovering from the "collective suicide" of gang violence, a young lesbian tortured by guilt over her sexual orientation, a Native American male victim of incest, and an African-American woman who used drugs to escape low self-esteem and the trauma of rape. In candid and revealing terms, each describes the path that led to the brink of suicide, the personal factors which convinced them not to complete the act, and the ways they find to live every new day, including attending support group meetings, creative writing, and a reaffirmation of ethnic spirituality. The film provides no easy answers. All admit to having bad days, but say thoughts of suicide no longer dominate their lives. This helpful, moving, and important documentary is strongly recommended to anyone concerned with this urgent national problem. Aud: C, P. (S. Rees)
The Choice of a Lifetime: Returning from the Brink of Suicide
(1996) 53 min. $99: public libraries; $250: schools & colleges. New Day Films. PPR. ISBN: 1-57448- 042-1. Vol. 12, Issue 4
The Choice of a Lifetime: Returning from the Brink of Suicide
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