Rory O’Connor

Professor of Health Psychology, University of Glasgow

Rory O’Connor is professor of health psychology, and leads the Suicidal Behaviour Research Laboratory at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. He is president of the International Association for Suicide Prevention and author of When It Is Darkest: Why People Die by Suicide and What We Can Do to Prevent It (2021). He has published widely on the psychology of self-harm and suicide.

Written by Rory O’Connor

Abstract painting of a figure in orange sitting by a window with light coming through.

How to support someone who is self-harming

A person harming themselves is not attention-seeking but attention-needing. Reach in and show them you’re listening

by Rory O’Connor & Ellen Townsend