Prevention of Suicidal Behavior Through the VIGILANS Protocol: the Restoration of Social Connection Hypothesis

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, with 800,000 annual deaths, that suicide is the second leading cause of death in people aged 10 to 44 and thus recognizes suicide prevention as a public health priority. The psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the social isolation and the economic consequences engendered by the confinement, as well as the direct effects of this viral infection increase suicidal mortality. Sensitivity to social rejection in suicide : Epidemiological and clinical studies indicate that social isolation and loneliness are very strongly associated with suicide. Our works suggests that suicide vulnerability is associated with specific processing of social information related to brain regions playing a role in psychological pain and inflammation. In fact, social stresses are powerful inducers of inflammation, also associated with suicide. Thus, we hypot