From the Editor, June 2021

Some time ago, exhausted and nearing the end of my tether, I sent Rory O'Connor a WhatsApp. He immediately replied and called on his twin brother Daryl, and they reminded me of shared better days past and future, staying with me in that moment of crisis and checking in on me regularly after.

I thought about that night as I spoke to Rory to accompany Ella's feature on suicide, and as I read his new book. I thought about the burden Rory must feel, being 'the suicide guy'. He assures me that 'writing the book was cathartic'. But imagine being a figurehead for what Rory calls the 'everydayness' of suicide: '…what leads someone to become suicidal is very often about what happens every day: everyday failures, everyday crises and everyday losses. Too often people think that suicide is about the out-of-the-ordinary…'

Rory adds that 'suicide is never inevitable. It is preventable right up until the final moment.' His book, and we hope this issue, give practical advice on how we can all do that.

Dr Jon Sutton
Managing Editor @psychmag

Cover illustration: Nick Oliver