Book review: Bering, J. (2018). Suicidal: Why we kill ourselves. University of Chicago Press.

In “Suicidal – why we kill ourselves” Jesse Bering asks what drives some of us to die by a self-directed fatal act. According to him, “there are no satisfying answers” (233-234) not least because “suicide is one of the few social acts for which (…) the individual does not have to face society” (223). However, Bering argues that we end our lives largely because we are too invested in what others think of us. We humans, or so goes Bering’s argument, are sensitive to how others perceive us and react to us. Accordingly, many of us spend much time imagining what others think of us – and envisioning how others see us negatively is precisely what can tip us over the edge.