Making Sense of Suicide

Abstract

In 1973, A. Alvarez published the seminal and evocative work 'The Savage God: A Study of Suicide'. Inspired by his personal experiences of suicide, Alvarez sought to deconstruct the myriad myths which shrouded suicide at the time and delve into the reasons behind different suicidal performances. By looking at the act through various lenses, Alvarez sought to make sense of suicide; how something so destructive, so taboo, could also be something spoken about just like any other conversation topic, depending upon to whom you were speaking. Similarly inspired, in November 2010, the first Inter-Disciplinary.Net Global Conference on Suicide was held in Prague, Czech Republic. In an intimate conference arena, a group of people from various countries around the world, from many different backgrounds and possessing myriad lived experiences, tried to make sense of suicide.