Suicide victims dump the very problems they want to escape on their survivors. This book is an insider’s view to one man’s justification for ending his life. Chapter by chapter, his pain is compared to the pain and chaos his decision caused. The subtitle points to the longevity and severity of the problems, which include a ruined self-image, crippling guilt, fatigue and depression, lack of desire to go to work, inability to function in ordinary ways required in daily life, and more. It is in everyone’s best interest to prevent suicide. Depression is the most common cause of suicide, and many depressed people are able to hide their affliction well enough to avoid detection. They often do not want an intervention, because they think getting help or asking for help would make them appear weaker and more out of control. Perhaps the most serious aspect of untreated depression is that the sufferer plunges farther and farther into unrealistic thinking, eventually concluding that happiness will never be possible, that their depression cannot be beaten, and that life is definitely not worth living. This distorted thinking compounds the conviction that it would be senseless to try to get help. The main scenario of Before You Kill Yourself involves the real-life, 29-year-old Seth, a good-natured man who has tried for years to overcome his dark mental state. The real problem is that he needs help but wants to fix himself under his own power. He reasons at length internally, always berating himself and scolding himself for his unwavering bad luck. He contemplates a variety of ways to end his life, weighs their merits, and fails to realize that there is no way to avoid dumping the very problems he’s trying to escape on the people who are left to grieve his absence. Seth said life hadn’t been worth living for a very long time. The way he saw it, he was free to do what he wanted with his body. He said he had been unselfish for too many years to do what he really wanted to do, since he would never get what he wanted and what he said everyone deserves. His mother wrote him a letter. Between the lines, it tells of the perpetual, killing mess that suicide victims leave behind when they insist on trying to fight their way – alone and on their own terms – out of the hopelessness that gives them no hope for succeeding. Here is Sandi’s letter to her son. Dear Seth, You don't know me, so let me introduce myself to you. I am the woman who used to be your mother. Your mother died on January 13, 2012. Like me, she loved you with all her heart. Like me, she would have walked through the fires of hell to save you from pain. But you burned her alive. The part of me that used to be her became a dark hole in my heart. Now I am a new person learning to exist without my only son. Were it not for your dad and sister, I don't think I would have the strength to face each day without you. You asked how I would spend my last day on earth. I will tell you. It will be the same way I have spent it every day since you set yourself on fire. I’m still trying to figure out why you never gave your family a chance to help you fight your demons. I Will Always Love You, Sandi Murphy Before You Kill Yourself shows that taking one’s own life is messy, no matter how it is done. It leaves family with the very darkness the desperate person is trying to escape. This short read will speak to depressed people who are not yet beyond the point of no return where they seem unable to respond to reason anymore. The book is also for others who need motivation to help depressed people find and accept professional help. Before You Kill Yourself is not a resource for dealing with suicidal tendencies, nor is it a substitute for professional help.