Exploring The Role Of Resilience In Rates Of Self-Harm And Suicide During The Covid-19 Pandemic And Beyond

TY - JOUR

T1 - Exploring The Role Of Resilience In Rates Of Self-Harm And Suicide During The Covid-19 Pandemic And Beyond

AU - Wilson, Emma

PY - 2022/10/1

Y1 - 2022/10/1

N2 - Self-harm, as defined here, includes ‘self-poisoning or self-injury, irrespective of the apparent purpose of the act’. Although it is distinct from suicidal thoughts and behaviours, there is overlap, with research suggesting it can act a precursor to future suicide. The start of the COVID-19 pandemic saw much discussion about the potential impact on suicide in the United Kingdom. Two years on, and rates of self-harm and suicidal thoughts and behaviours have been mixed, tentatively failing to find substantial changes from pre-pandemic levels, despite periods of lockdown and months of uncertainty. Resilience provides a lens to consider these emerging findings, by considering the protective factors that support individuals from adverse outcomes of challenging situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on models of resilience (Masten et al., 2021; Stainton et al., 2019), this paper explores how this complex, multi-faceted construct may begin to explain the trends emerging from the COVID-19 literature, while also providing considerations for the post-pandemic years. Challenges for current resilience research are presented, such as the limits of static measures of resilience and the need for methods that capture the nature of resilience as being a multisystem, dynamic process. The article concludes that antecedents for self-harm and suicidality are wide-ranging, with resilience to these thoughts and behaviours existing in an interconnecting web of levels across society. It is, however, difficult to fully assess these networks with the measures of resilience that are most widely used. The intra- and interpersonal challenges and inequalities that existed pre-pandemic may be exacerbated as the longer-term economic repercussions become known; thus, highlighting the importance of heightened solidarity and support to promote and protect resilience in individuals and communities most at risk of self-harm and suicide. To do this, we must take advantage of longitudinal studies using methods such as Experience Sampling Methodology (i.e., digital diaries) to fully understand the interaction of risk and protective factors across contexts and time.

AB - Self-harm, as defined here, includes ‘self-poisoning or self-injury, irrespective of the apparent purpose of the act’. Although it is distinct from suicidal thoughts and behaviours, there is overlap, with research suggesting it can act a precursor to future suicide. The start of the COVID-19 pandemic saw much discussion about the potential impact on suicide in the United Kingdom. Two years on, and rates of self-harm and suicidal thoughts and behaviours have been mixed, tentatively failing to find substantial changes from pre-pandemic levels, despite periods of lockdown and months of uncertainty. Resilience provides a lens to consider these emerging findings, by considering the protective factors that support individuals from adverse outcomes of challenging situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on models of resilience (Masten et al., 2021; Stainton et al., 2019), this paper explores how this complex, multi-faceted construct may begin to explain the trends emerging from the COVID-19 literature, while also providing considerations for the post-pandemic years. Challenges for current resilience research are presented, such as the limits of static measures of resilience and the need for methods that capture the nature of resilience as being a multisystem, dynamic process. The article concludes that antecedents for self-harm and suicidality are wide-ranging, with resilience to these thoughts and behaviours existing in an interconnecting web of levels across society. It is, however, difficult to fully assess these networks with the measures of resilience that are most widely used. The intra- and interpersonal challenges and inequalities that existed pre-pandemic may be exacerbated as the longer-term economic repercussions become known; thus, highlighting the importance of heightened solidarity and support to promote and protect resilience in individuals and communities most at risk of self-harm and suicide. To do this, we must take advantage of longitudinal studies using methods such as Experience Sampling Methodology (i.e., digital diaries) to fully understand the interaction of risk and protective factors across contexts and time.

M3 - Article

SN - 2632-2455

JO - Sentio Journal

JF - Sentio Journal

ER -