Waking Up, Alive

"Sometimes I feel like crying but the tears just dont come...." "I had no idea there was a state of mind like this. Everything turned black...." "It was a zombie place where I just couldnt be a part of anything...." These are the words of survivors who have lived through one of the most insidious conditions of our time: the desire to die. Five million Americans have attempted suicide. Every seventeen minutes one of them succeeds. And the numbers continue to grow. Through fifty startling interviews with suicide survivors of all ages and backgrounds psychologist Richard A. Heckler takes us into the very heart of despair documenting the varied paths that lead to that crucial place where ones world seems to stretch tear and then break apart. In these intimate accounts we begin to understand the determination and clarity of that fatal choice. But after the failed attempt healing is possible. For the first time with great care and penetrating insight Heckler traces the heroic patterns of recovery. By offering clear profound portraits of hope this extraordinary and unprecedented book attests to the resilience of the human spirit by bearing witness to those who stood at deaths door and found the courage to live. "Its hard to imagine a hopeful or inspiring book on suicide until you begin reading the astonishing Waking Up Alive." --San Francisco Chronicle "In this sensitive book Richard Heckler brings compassionate light to a shadowy corner of our psyche." --Ram Dass Author of Journey of Awakening "These moving accounts written with a great heart of compassion have a deeply healing effect on the ocean of human tears. This is a wise and ultimately life-affirming work!" --Jack Kornfield Ph.D. Author of A Path With Heart