International Impact Book Award winner Ken Breniman marks September as Suicide Prevention Awareness Month with a new book on despair, belonging, and reasons to stay.
New York City, NY
Ken Breniman announces the release of Love Yourself to Death: A Guide for the Reluctant Mortal. Drawing on more than two decades of clinical and community work, the book explores despair, grief, mortality, and meaning while inviting readers to consider what in their lives needs to change and what support could make that change possible.
Breniman brings his own encounters with grief and suicidal distress to a body of work spanning nonfiction, queer speculative fiction, and children’s death education. His approach connects the deeply personal experience of suffering with broader questions of belonging and collective responsibility.
His mission is to deepen grief literacy in these complex times, helping people recognize loss, find language for sorrow, and respond with compassion.
His award-winning film Primates, Privilege & Possibility extends that mission into conservation and planetary grief, exploring our relationship with other primates and the living world. Across books, film, and community education, Breniman invites audiences to meet personal and ecological loss with connection and purposeful action.
One motivating factor behind his decision to self-publish promptly was the July 17, 2025, termination of the LGBTQ+ youth-specific “Press 3” service within the national 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. That closure reinforced his commitment to accessible resources and community connections for people experiencing despair. The general 988 Lifeline and The Trevor Project’s independent crisis services remain available.
At the center of Love Yourself to Death is a question: When life feels unbearable, what specifically needs to end or change? The book invites readers to examine painful circumstances, patterns, expectations, and relationships while considering possibilities beyond ending their lives.
It approaches these questions through psychotherapy, grief work, mindfulness, body-based practices, spiritual inquiry, and lived experience.
Written for people facing existential distress and those who care about them, the book acknowledges the complexity of suffering without demanding optimism or promising immediate transformation.
Its emphasis is on dignity, curiosity, and connection, making room for difficult feelings while opening conversations about support and possibility.
It is intended as a companion to reflection and conversation, not a substitute for professional care or crisis support.
Breniman welcomes inquiries from suicide prevention organizations, LGBTQ+ community groups, educators, and care providers. He is available to discuss interviews, webinars, community conversations, and staff trainings on grief literacy, trauma-informed yoga-based practices, and sound enrichment through singing bowls. Programs can be discussed with organizations’ needs and limited resources in mind.
Complimentary digital review copies are available, with donated paperback copies planned upon publication.
Love Yourself to Death: A Guide for the Reluctant Mortal is available on Kindle, with paperback and audiobook editions forthcoming.
ABOUT KEN BRENIMAN
Ken Breniman, LCSW, is an Oakland-based author and filmmaker, licensed clinical social worker, certified yoga therapist, certified death doula, and adjunct professor of thanatology at Marian University. Featured in The New York Times, he is the author of Subversive Acts of Humanity, A Three Body Solution, and the SEE-SOUL children’s series. His additional literary honors include a Literary Titan Gold Book Award and recognition from the San Francisco and Beach Book Festivals.
For more information about the book and its author, please visit:
kenbreniman.com
Crisis support: In the U.S., call or text 988. LGBTQ+ young people can also find support at thetrevorproject.org/get-help.
The book is available at:
amazon.com/dp/B0HK8MQPBT
For review copies, interview requests, or additional information, please contact:
Media Contact Details
Ken Breniman
BrightKey PR
Email: Send Email
Phone: 6466400262