Psychological Resilience to Suicidal Experiences in People with Non-Affective Psychosis: A Position Paper

Abstract

It is important to understand the psychological factors which underpin pathways to suicidal experiences. It is equally as important to understand how people develop and maintain resilience to such psychological factors implicated in suicidal experiences. Exploring optimal routes to gaining this understanding of resilience to suicidal thoughts and acts in people with severe mental health problems, specifically non-affective psychosis, was the overarching aim of this position paper. There are five central suggestions: 1. investigating resilience to suicidal experiences has been somewhat over-looked, especially in those with severe mental health problems such as schizophrenia; 2. it appears maximally enlightening to use convergent qualitative, quantitative and mixed research methods to develop a comprehensive understanding of resilience to suicide; 3. relatedly, involving experts-by-experience (consumers) in suicide research in general is vital, and this includes research endeavours with a focus on resilience to suicide; 4. evidence-based models of resilience which hold the most promise appear to be buffering, recovery and maintenance approaches; and 5. there is vast potential for contemporary psychological therapies to develop and scaffold work with clients centred on building and maintaining resilience to suicidal thoughts and acts based on different methodological and analytical approaches which involve both talking and non-talking approaches.

Suicide resilience: A concept analysis

“…Some scholars investigated suicide resilience as a dynamic process and used the term such as suicidal recovery to describe it ( 18 ). Additionally, there are several other phrases for suicide resilience, such as resilience to suicidality, psychological resilience to suicidal experience, and overcome suicidality ( 14 , 19 , 20 ). Due to these existing fuzzy interpretations, the recent increase in literature on suicide resilience may cause more confusion than clarity among researchers and clinicians, impeding precise translation of the concept into practice.…”

Social support resilience as a protective mental health factor in postgraduate researchers’ experiences: a longitudinal analysis

“…friends, peers and faculty members) (Pervez et al, 2021). Framing psychological resilience as a set of resources that can be fostered and supported (Jacelon, 1997;Mizuno et al, 2016;Sher, 2019;Waugh and Koster, 2015;Levine, 2003;Gooding et al, 2022) is both positive and pragmatic in an action-oriented sense, as it cultivates a sense of responsibility to be taken by individuals themselves but also by organisations and communities (Hanson and Gottesman, 2012). Hence, it is exculpating for individuals and ensures workplaces, in this case higher education institutions (HEIs), are accountable.…”

“…The second is to determine which academic pressures predict a temporal deterioration in mental health problems. The third issue is to identify factors which protect, or buffer, against any academic-related deterioration of mental health and well-being over time (Johnson et al , 2011; Gooding and Harris, 2020; Gooding et al , 2022). In the current study, the focus of potential protective factors was on three components of psychological resilience, namely, personal perceptions of social support, emotional coping and problem-solving (Johnson et al , 2010; Gooding and Harris, 2020; Gooding et al , 2022).…”

“…The third issue is to identify factors which protect, or buffer, against any academic-related deterioration of mental health and well-being over time (Johnson et al , 2011; Gooding and Harris, 2020; Gooding et al , 2022). In the current study, the focus of potential protective factors was on three components of psychological resilience, namely, personal perceptions of social support, emotional coping and problem-solving (Johnson et al , 2010; Gooding and Harris, 2020; Gooding et al , 2022). Milicev et al (2021) found resilience was the only variable associated with positive mental health outcomes and concluded that institutes could improve ways of promoting PGR resilience to nurture and maintain mental health and well-being.…”

How individuals with psychosis develop and maintain resilience to suicidal experiences through psychological therapy: A qualitative study

“…Whilst research seeking to identify factors which exacerbate suicidal experiences in people with psychosis is growing, research examining psychological resilience to suicidal experiences is comparatively sparse (9, 10).The concept of psychological resilience has been framed in diverse ways in the literature. In a position paper, Gooding and colleagues (2022) highlighted how some de nitions of resilience have viewed it as an unchangeable personality characteristic (10). A recent qualitative study aimed to gain service users' insights into what resilience to suicidality meant to them to provide a more authentic conceptualisation based on the views of experts by experience (EBEs), rather than mainly relying on the perspectives of clinicians and academics (6).…”