Resilience Tech-Forum

Resilience Suicide Prevention Study

In 2022, 2-Dooz performed a Google key words search which confirmed that there is no shortage of advice for “how to become more resilient.”  The search returned 194 million results.  Fortunately some common themes were present among the multitude of suggested protocols: (1) awareness, (2) focused attention, and (3) perseverance.  Ironically, each of these suggested steps is also common to stress management.  

Note that personal crisis—the kind which may lead to a higher risk of a death of despair—evokes a stress response.  And, it suggests that better managing stress is a key to being more resilient and possibly a key to preventing suicide.  Thus, the Resilience Tech-Forum is an affirmation of 2-Dooz's decade-long work on stress, and adds to our considerations the role distress may play in a death of despair.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines resilience as “an ability to recover from, or adjust easily to misfortune or change.”  Regarding suicide prevention, resilience can be defined as an ability to not choose a permanent solution for a temporary problem, in the midst of a personal crisis.   Resilience is what allows one to patiently persevere through a present episode of personal adversity.

Moved by Dr. Jalilie’s passing and guided by the VA Suicide Prevention Advisory Board, which is now formally part of the RTF, RTF members (led by 2-Dooz) are pursuing a large-scale multiyear study on the effect that chronic stress and acute stress respectively have on our military veterans regarding suicidal ideation.  The Resilience Suicide Prevention Study is examining how chronic stress punctuated by acute stress during a personal crisis can increase a military veteran’s risk of a death of despair.