Life After Suicide

From the outside, Jennifer Ashton, M.D., had it all together: two loving children, an amicable family-focused relationship with her recent ex-husband, Rob, and a flourishing career as a privately practicing Ob-Gyn and as ABC's Chief Medical Correspondent, a regular presence on Good Morning America. But after Rob's unexpected suicide, her life as she had known it was shattered.

Suicide is at once a deeply personal trauma, and a devastating public epidemic that affects millions, between the people who die by suicide, and those who are left behind. Despite her regular national reporting on intimate health issues, Dr. Ashton's own experience with loss felt too raw and even too frightening to speak of before the high-profile suicides of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain. It was then that she realized the importance and the timeliness of sharing her story, and confronting her own stigma and vulnerability to try to help others work through their grief as survivors.

In this affecting story of personal loss and of the indefinite process of recovery, Dr. Ashton utilizes community and conversation to elucidate the process of grieving and finding peace after suicide. Both a memoir and a practical guide to helping others through this tragedy, Life After Suicide offers support, advice, and hope to those whose wounds will always be raw, and bravely explores a subject that has been taboo for far too long. Combining the most current wisdom of experts and the heart-wrenching stories of other survivors (including her children), the end result is an eloquent look into suicide and a hopeful expression of what it means--and ultimately, what it takes--to heal, in a way that honors the spirit of those who have died, without allowing blame, anger, and resentment to take over. Life After Suicide is an honest and insightful look into surviving a loved one's suicide--and in finding the courage to continue after unimaginable loss. With the tragic likelihood being that many people will eventually know of someone who dies by suicide, Life After Suicide is a window into a world that we all truly need to start to understand, without shame, stigma, or bias.