A conversation on suicide prevention
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 29 April 2023
⏱️ 43 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Warning, this episode contains discussions about suicide.
Why does suicide occur? Why is there still a stigma around it? And how can we work to prevent people from taking their own lives?
If you or someone you know has been affected by suicide or needs to talk to someone, please get in contact with the Samaritans online https://www.samaritans.org/ or call them for free on their 24-hour helpline 116 123.
This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes.
Guest: Professor Rory O'Connor, Professor of Health Psychology at the University of Glasgow.
Author of 'When It Is Darkest: Why People Die by Suicide and What We Can Do to Prevent It' - https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/442218/when-it-is-darkest-by-professor-rory-oconnor/9781785043437#
Host: James Beal, Social Affairs Editor, The Times.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm here near to the headphones, yeah. |
| 0:04.5 | If you could just introduce yourself, tell us who you are, what you do and how long |
| 0:08.8 | we've been doing it. |
| 0:10.3 | My name is Ruri O'Connor, I'm professor of health psychology at the University of Glasgow |
| 0:16.0 | where I lead the suicidal behaviour research laboratory and I've been doing research into |
| 0:21.6 | suicide and self-harm, I think it's for 28 years. |
| 0:31.0 | You're listening to stories of our times, from the Times and Sunday Times. |
| 0:35.6 | I'm James Beale, social affairs editor at the Times. |
| 0:40.0 | Today, a conversation on suicide prevention. |
| 0:47.0 | In this podcast, I'm speaking with Professor Ruri O'Connor, who is a leading expert on suicide prevention. |
| 0:54.4 | He featured in the final episode of Poison, the three-part podcast series, about a 22-year-old |
| 1:00.4 | British man who took his own life and the questions it raises. |
| 1:05.8 | If you haven't listened to that series, it's available here on this feed. |
| 1:10.6 | Now, my conversation with Professor O'Connor's day is wide-ranging. |
| 1:15.9 | He had some valuable insights into why suicide occurs, the stigma around it, the myths that |
| 1:22.1 | get perpetuated, and, of course, importantly, how we can work to prevent people from taking |
| 1:28.7 | their own lives. |
| 1:34.7 | And clearly, the following podcast contains discussions about suicide. |
| 1:40.1 | If you or anyone you know may be affected by this, there's a link in the episode notes |
| 1:44.8 | to the Samaritans website and phone number, and do consider if you should continue listening. |
| 1:53.1 | So let's rewind for a second. |
| 2:01.1 | How did you first get into suicide research? |
... |
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