Attempter Survivors Research
While there the are gaps in the research about suicide attempts, below includes a broad list of what does exist, including several books on what leads people to suicide.
Brown, G. K., Ten Have, T., Henriques, G. R., Xie, S. X., Hollander, J. E., & Beck., A. T. (2005). Cognitive therapy for the prevention of suicide attempts. Journal of the American Medical Association, 294, 563-570.
Comtois, K. A., Jobes, D. A., O’Connor, S. S., Atkins, D. A., Janis, K., Chessen, C., … Yuodelis Flores (in press). Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS): Feasibility Trial for Next-Day Appointment Services. Anxiety and Depression.
Comtois, K. A., & Linehan, M. M. (2006). Psychosocial treatments of suicidal behaviors: A practice friendly review. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 62, 161-170.
Joiner, T. (2005). Why people die by suicide. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Joiner, T. E. & Rudd, M. D. (2000). Intensity and duration of suicidal crises vary as a function of previous suicide attempts and negative life events. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68, 909-916.
Kessler, R. C., Borges, G., & Walters, E. E. (1999). Prevalence of and risk factors for lifetime suicide attempts in the National Comorbidity Survey. Archives of General Psychiatry, 56, 617-626.
Linehan, M. M., Comtois, K. A., Murray, A. M., Brown, M. Z., Gallop R. J., Heard, H. L., … Lindenboim, N. (2006). Tow-year randomized controlled trial and follow-up of dialectical behavior therapy vs. therapy by experts for suicidal behaviors and borderline personality disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry, 63, 757-766.
Rudd, M. D., Joiner, T., & Rajab, M. H. (1996). Relationships among suicide ideators, attempters, and multiple attempters in a young-adult sample. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 105, 541-550.
Shneidman, E. S. (1998). The suicidal mind. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Comments

Dana
I'm surprised one excellent book has not been named here. The book is called "Waking Up, Alive: The descent, the suicide attempt, and the return to life" written by Richard A. Heckler. This book is truly one-of-a-kind and gave me, as a suicide attempt survivor, exactly what I was looking for: hope and meaning in my life. Unfortunately, this book is no longer in print (last printing 1996), but can still be found on www.amazon.com as both a new and used book.
