Changing the Narrative on Suicide: The Role of Spirituality On Prevention

This episode of Integrated Wisdom honours World Suicide Prevention Day by exploring the role spirituality can play in suicide prevention.

Drawing on research by Dr. Lisa Miller and others, I share why a strong spiritual connection is linked to lower suicide risk, greater resilience, and the ability to find meaning in suffering. I also explore how perspectives from near-death experience research and stories from clinical practice reveal something essential: when we understand ourselves as spiritual beings, challenges take on new meaning, and even the darkest struggles can be reframed as part of a larger process of growth.

You’ll learn:

• Why spirituality protects against hopelessness and suicide risk
• What near-death experience research suggests about life and purpose
• Practical ways to strengthen your spiritual core as a source of resilience

As this year’s theme reminds us, it’s time to change the narrative on suicide. May this episode offer hope, meaning, and a reminder that you are not alone.

👉 Next week: how spirituality could help us heal some of today’s greatest global challenges.

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Intro and Outro music: Inspiring Morning by Playsound

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for educational purposes only. It is not intended to be treated as psychological treatment or to replace the need for psychological treatment.

Transcript

Tatiana: 0:00

Today's episode is tender and urgent. We'll be talking about suicide and specifically about changing the narrative on suicide. Which is the theme for this year's World Suicide Prevention Day. if you're listening and this is a sensitive topic for you, please take care of yourself. If at any point it feels overwhelming, you can pause, come back later, or skip this episode altogether. And if you are struggling with thoughts of suicide, please remember. That you are important and you are not alone. In Australia you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14, and if you're elsewhere in the world, you can find international crisis hotlines at'findahelpline.com'. I'm approaching this episode both as a psychologist and as someone who has spent years studying the intersection of psychology, spirituality, and science. My hope is to offer a way of thinking about suicide prevention that is not only more truthful, but also more hopeful. Welcome to the Integrated Wisdom Podcast. I am your host, Tatiana Da Silva, psychologist, spiritual educator, and founder of a body of work devoted to lead others to remembering what we never truly forgot, that science and spirit were never separate. They are each in their own way, expressions of the same sacred architecture. This podcast is for the quiet revolutionaries, the therapists, the seekers, the spiritually discerning and scientifically curious who know that we are being called into a new paradigm for personal and collective transformation. Together we explore what it means to live a coherent. Soul led life drawing from psychology, neuroscience, epigenetics, energy medicine, and spiritual remembrance. These aren't just conversations. They are transmissions for those ready to return to what's true, to what's whole, and to what's quietly waiting beneath it. Hello and welcome back to the Integrated Wisdom Podcast. Today we mark World Suicide Prevention Day. Each year, over 700,000 people die by suicide worldwide and countless more struggle quietly with despair and hopelessness. The theme this year is changing the narrative on suicide, and that's exactly what I want to explore with you today. How we can reframe our understanding of despair. And why reconnecting with our spiritual core is a vital, yet often overlooked part of suicide prevention. We live in a time of global conflict, disconnection, and division. For many, this creates a profound sense of despair and hopelessness. Traditional mental health treatments are essential, but they are not always enough. Research consistently shows that spirituality as defined as a connection and awareness of something greater than oneself, acts as a buffer against hopelessness and suicide. But spirituality is rarely part of the conversation in clinical care. And so for me, changing the narrative means expanding what we see as protective. Let's begin by grounding it in the science. Dr. Lisa Miller at Columbia University has spent over 20 years studying the relationship between spirituality and mental health. Her findings are really striking. People with these strong personal spirituality are up to 75% less likely to experience recurrent depression, and that protective factor extends to resilience against addiction and suicidality. In fact, Dr. Lisa Miller's research in conjunction with Dr. David Shafer, also of Columbia University. I found that a high degree of spirituality was the only factor that protected against suicidality in teens. Similarly, research on near death experiences led by Dr. Bruce Grayson at the University of Virginia shows that people who had these profound experiences often report reduced fear of death, greater life purpose, and higher levels of resilience. And when we step back, both sets of findings convert on the same point. When people connect with the deeper dimensions of life, whether they call it spirituality, soul, or a transcendent experience, they are less likely to feel overwhelmed by despair. Science gives us this evidence, but there's also a lived spiritual truth that many different traditions affirm that we are more than our suffering, more than our biology. From this lens. Challenges are not meaningless punishment. They can be understood as part of our growth, our evolution as beings of spirit. And when we see life this way, pain and challenge don't disappear, but they become more bearable. Because they have context and meaning. When we understand ourselves in this way, we reclaim agency and challenges can be seen as part of our growth or evolution, not meaningless pain, but opportunities to deepen connection and purpose. And you don't have to subscribe to an afterlife or the notion of a soul journey to benefit from this perspective. What matters is recognizing yourself as part of something bigger and not alone in your pain. And I want to pause here and share something that doesn't always make it into the public conversation. Over the years, I've had several clients tell me that even when they desperately wanted to end their lives, there was a deep inner knowing, almost a felt sense in their bones, that they weren't allowed to, or that they couldn't, that their life still had lessons to unfold. Or that leaving now would only mean coming back to face the same challenges again. Now this is very different from the fear-based messages some of us may have grown up with, like being told suicide is a mortal sin. What these clients describe isn't about punishment or fear of damnation. It's about a protective conviction that life has meaning. That their presence matters and that their soul's journey isn't complete. For some people, that conviction alone has been enough to help them pause, reach for support. It doesn't replace safety planning, of course, or therapy or medical care, but it does remind us that for many spirituality can be a profound protective factor in moments of despair. And that's exactly why we need to expand the narrative of suicide prevention to include it. So what does this mean in actual practice? For some, it might mean reconnecting with prayer or meditation, but for others it could mean time in nature journaling, or even simply pausing to ask, what's the bigger picture here? How is this moment part of my growth as a human being? And even if you don't personally resonate with the idea of being an eternal spirit, what's most important is that spirituality in whatever form you engage in, can restore a sense of purpose and agency, which is deeply protective in the face of suffering. Here are three approaches that you can start trying. That are grounded in both research and lived wisdom. The first, which is my favorite, is a daily awe practice in Dr. Lisa Miller's research and in other research on the impact of experiencing awe in our mental health and wellbeing. The research shows that awe states can activate brain regions linked to empathy, resilience, and openness. And so to put it into practice intentionally. Look for something every day that sparks awe in you. At the end of each day, reflect and ask yourself, where did I feel awe today? It could be a beautiful sunset. It could be a child's laughter, it could be a moving piece of music. It might have even been a moment of silence. Just intentionally go out each day looking for moments and experiences that spark that little bit of awe in you. The second is reframing struggle as growth. NDE survivors often reinterpret trauma or challenging experiences as purposeful. And so when confronted with a challenge or something that you're grappling with, ask yourself If this challenge were shaping me to who I'm meant to become, what might they be trying to teach me? And thirdly. Embed in your daily routine. Spiritual anchors, rituals like prayer, meditation, nature walks, studying spiritual texts or even acts of service, all provide grounding and this connection to a sense of something larger than ourselves that we've been talking about. Choose one anchor that resonates most with you. Or that feels easiest to weave into your day-to-day routine and then just commit to just five or 10 minutes daily to that particular anchor or practice every day for a week, and just pay attention to any subtle shifts that you may observe. Now, of course these practices will help in the moment, but they're not designed to be one-offs. So the more consistently you engage with approaching things in this way, or weaving some of these practices into your daily routine, the bigger the cumulative impact over time and the protective impact over time. These aren't abstract, they're daily practices that anyone can take up and you can see very clearly from, The three exercises that I've listed that you don't have to be affiliated or attached to a particular spiritual perspective or philosophy over time. What they will do though is build a spiritual foundation that will protect against moments of disconnection and feelings of despair and overwhelm. So this world Suicide Prevention Day, the call to action is clear. We must expand the narrative. Suicide prevention isn't just medical, and it isn't just psychological. It is also deeply spiritual. The data shows that strengthening our spiritual lives protects against depression and suicide. The lived experience shows that it gives us hope and meaning. And together they remind us you are more than your pain. You're part of something greater. So what does it mean to truly change the narrative on suicide? It means honouring what the science is showing us that spirituality is not a fringe belief, but a built in strength of the human brain. I believe this deeply, and Dr. Miller also says this often, we are all innately spiritual beings, and the beauty is that her research data is backing that up. And so my vision is for a world where suicide prevention doesn't stop at crisis lines and medications. But expands to include the spiritual essence of what it means to be human. If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out to a trusted friend, a therapist or crisis line in your country. You don't have to face this alone. And for all of us, the invitation is simple. Nurture your spiritual connection. It may be one of the most powerful tools we have to navigate the human experience and the tricky times that we are living in currently. Before I close, I just want to share what's coming next week because it's an expansion of the theme of today. Today we explored how spirituality can protect us in our most personal struggles, including dispair and suicidality, but spirituality doesn't just support us individually. I believe that it has a vital role to play in solving some of the biggest challenges that we face collectively in our modern world. From the rise in loneliness and disconnection to the mental health crises. To even how we approach conflict and climate change. I'll be diving into how a spiritual perspective can help us reimagine solutions and why the integration of science and spirituality may be one of the most important cultural shifts of our time. So if today's conversation sparked something for you, I invite you back next week as we expand from the personal to the collective, from suicide prevention to soul level transformation in our communities and our world. Thank you so much for listening, and remember, you were never disconnected. Only waiting to remember. Thank you for tuning into this episode of Integrated Wisdom. It is my sincere wish that this episode may have intrigued and inspired you to reclaim your power and step into becoming more fully integrated spiritual beings. New episodes are published every second Wednesday, and I hope that you'll continue to join us as we dive deeper into what it means to live an integrated life. If this space has stirred something in you, I invite you to subscribe, share it with those attuned to this path, and explore the full body of work at integratedwisdom.com au. You can also find me on Instagram@WisdomwithTatiana, where the conversation continues. Until next time, stay discerning, stay curious, and let this be your reminder. You were never disconnected. Only waiting to remember.