The idea of resilience started as a way to understand how stress affects people and has led to research in education and mental health. Resilience can be seen as the skills needed to handle stress well, in an optimal way. Resilience can also be more clinically defined as an ability, perception or set of beliefs which buffer individuals from the development of suicidality in the face of risk factors or stressors.1,2 Current research suggests that having good social connections can help protect against suicide.3,4,5,6
The World Health Organization looks at resilience on a personal and community level, focusing on things that can keep people from feeling suicidal. This includes spirituality as a way to share positive values and connect with supportive people, a sense of belonging, positive ways of dealing with stress, effective problem solving skills, and the ability to reach out and ask for help when needed.7
Building resilience requires a commitment to exploring our thoughts and actions, and challenging beliefs that hold us back. It is a personal choice to either let stress overwhelm us or to face it head-on. We decide whether to victims or survivors. To be a survivor requires a personal commitment but one that can be shared and championed as a community.
References
1. Johnson, Judith, Alex M. Wood, Patricia Gooding, Peter J. Taylor, and Nicholas Tarrier. "Resilience to suicidality: The buffering hypothesis." Clinical psychology review 31, no. 4 (2011): 563-591.
2. Markel, Nicholas, Ralph Trujillo, Philip Callahan and Michael Marks, “Resiliency and Retention in Veterans Returning to College: Results of a Pilot Study” (paper presented at the Veterans in Higher Education Conference: Listening, Responding, Changing for Student Success, Tucson, Arizona, September, 2010)
3. Stanley, Ian H., Melanie A. Hom, and Thomas E. Joiner. "A systematic review of suicidal thoughts and behaviors among police officers, firefighters, EMTs, and paramedics." Clinical Psychology Review (2015).
4. Gunderson, Jonathan, Mike Grill, Philip Callahan, and Michael Marks. "An Evidence-based Program for Improving and Sustaining First Responder Behavioral Health." JEMS: Journal of Emergency Medical Services (JEMS) 3 (2014): 57-61.
5. Klonsky, E. David, and Alexis M. May. "The Three-Step Theory (3ST): A new theory of suicide rooted in the “ideation-to-action” framework." International Journal of Cognitive Therapy 8, no. 2 (2015): 114-129.
6. O’Connor, Rory C. "The integrated motivational-volitional model of suicidal behavior." Crisis (2015).
7. World Health Organization. Preventing suicide: A global imperative. World Health Organization, 2014.