Preventing suicide, promoting resilience: Is this achievable from a global perspective?

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Psychology
• Sociology

Background:

• Suicide remains a significant global health issue.
• Despite numerous initiatives, effective suicide prevention strategies are still needed.
• Identifying risk factors and protective factors is crucial for intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a comprehensive literature review on suicide prevention and resilience.
• To synthesize findings across six key areas: Personal resilience, People, Places, Prevention, Promoting collaboration, and Promoting research.
• To propose an integrated approach to suicide prevention and resilience promotion.

Main Methods:

• A detailed narrative review of scientific literature published between 2016 and 2019.
• Literature was analyzed and organized under six predefined headings (P1-P6).
• Key themes and findings related to suicide prevention and resilience were extracted and synthesized.

Main Results:

• The review identified critical factors across personal, social, and environmental domains influencing suicide risk and resilience.
• An integrated framework for suicide prevention, encompassing individual, community, and systemic levels, emerged from the literature.
• Gaps in current research and prevention efforts were highlighted.

Conclusions:

• An integrated, multi-faceted approach is essential for effective suicide prevention.
• Promoting personal and population resilience is a key component of reducing suicide rates.
• Ten actionable recommendations are proposed to advance suicide prevention efforts and foster resilience globally.