National Suicide Prevention Day: Life Events, Loss, and the Work Ahead

Moving house is one of life’s big transitions. Boxes, memories, and a long to-do list. For most, it’s stressful but manageable. For others, especially those already carrying heavy burdens, such major life events can act as tipping points.

Today, on National Suicide Prevention Day, I find myself in the middle of one of those life transitions. While I pack boxes, I’m also reflecting on the links between life changes and suicide risk – and how our research is beginning to untangle this complex relationship.

Suicide and Life Events

Decades of research show that suicide is rarely about a single cause. Instead, it often follows an accumulation of pressures and changes. Bereavement, relationship breakdown, financial stress, illness, job loss, or major transitions like moving home – these can all create periods of heightened vulnerability.

In my own work, I’ve introduced the concept of Increased Suicidality Vulnerability Periods (ISVPs). These are moments when people may be at greater risk, not because of one overwhelming event, but because a transition or disruption leaves them more exposed. Identifying and understanding these periods could transform how we offer support, shifting from reactive crisis response to timely prevention.

What Our Research Is Showing

Through projects such as RESUME, we are studying suicide among health and care workers in Scotland. By looking at long-term patterns, including historical data and present-day experiences, we hope to highlight the occupational and systemic pressures that intersect with life events to heighten risk.

In parallel, tools like the SOLVE framework, which I developed earlier this year, are designed to help colleagues and managers respond safely when someone discloses suicidal thoughts. These are not replacements for professional care, but simple, structured ways to ensure that people are heard, supported, and guided towards safety.

Other projects I’m leading – from studying job loss and older workers (POWER) to developing wellbeing apps for students and nurses (CARE and ASC) – all connect back to a simple truth: life events matter. The transitions we go through, the pressures we face, and the silence that too often surrounds distress – these can be decisive in shaping risk and resilience.

Moving Forward

On a day like today, it’s easy to get lost in statistics and global campaigns. But behind every number is a person, and behind every person is a story shaped by change, challenge, and circumstance.

My hope is that by recognising the role of life events, by mapping out ISVPs, and by designing practical interventions, we can make suicide prevention more attuned to the realities of living – messy, unpredictable, full of transitions, but also full of chances to intervene and support.

So, while I’m moving house today, my mind is also on the bigger moves we need to make as a society: from silence to openness, from reaction to prevention, and from stigma to solidarity.


—

Further reading and sources

My own recent work

Walker, S.H. (2025). Breaking the Silence: Addressing Nurse Suicide through Occupational Health. Mental Health Practice (provisionally accepted). Introduces the ISVP model as a framework for occupational suicide prevention.

Walker, S.H. (2025). The SOLVE Framework: Responding to Suicidal Ideation in Non-Clinical Settings. Beta-phase toolkit, University of Glasgow.

Walker, S.H. (2024). War Bodies. Bloomsbury Academic. Historical perspectives on trauma, injury, and mental health in war, including reflections on suicide and silence.

Walker, S.H. (forthcoming). Silent Voices: Suicide, Silence, and the Military Body. University of Glasgow / Bloomsbury.


Key studies and reports

Davidson JE, et al. (2020). A longitudinal analysis of nurse suicide in the United States (2005–2016). Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing, 17(1), 6–15. DOI: 10.1111/wvn.12419

Dall’Ora C, et al. (2020). Burnout in nursing: a theoretical review. Human Resources for Health, 18:89. DOI: 10.1186/s12960-020-00469-9

NCISH (2024). Annual Report: UK patient and general population data 2011–2021. University of Manchester

ONS (2017). Suicide by occupation, England: 2011 to 2015. ONS Release

Choi NG, et al. (2017). Job loss, financial strain, and housing problems as suicide precipitants in middle-aged adults. Journal of Affective Disorders, 208: 301–308. DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2016.10.040

WHO (2025). World Suicide Prevention Day 2025: Changing the Narrative on Suicide.