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BBC Radio 4


The show on how we think, feel and behave. Claudia Hammond delves into the evidence on mental health, psychology and neuroscience.


All in the Mind

Most of us have experienced difficult feelings like grief or stress or sadness – but are we too quick to label these feelings as a mental health problem? 

Clinical psychologist and author of You Are Not a Diagnosis Tanya Byron thinks we are – and we should also stop saying things like, “I’m traumatised”, “totally triggered” or “I’m so OCD”. 

So why does the language we use matter - and why does Tanya feel she's seeing a rise in self-diagnosis? 

Catherine Loveday, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Westminster, also joins us in the studio to give her take on the debate.

Plus, we tackle a listener's question about why some sounds can make us feel spine-tinglingly good and why are we ticklish?
 
Presenter: Claudia Hammond
Producer: Gerry Holt
Content editor: Ilan Goodman
Production coordinator: Jana Holesworth
Studio engineer: Steve Greenwood

Details of help and support with some of the issues raised are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline

Are we too quick to label ‘normal’ distress?

Are you an extrovert or an introvert? A type A or a type B? Or maybe you don't care about the categories but you would like to be less shy or more organised? Claudia Hammond and her panel of experts discuss personality in front of a live audience at Cheltenham Science Festival. 

Professor Kathryn Paige Harden from the University of Texas at Austin discusses how much of our personality is down to our genes and how much is down to environment. And she explains why children can end up with such different personalities from their siblings and parents despite sharing so many genes. 

Professor Anu Realo from the University of Warwick describes how important personality is for wellbeing and health, and how cultural differences in personality traits are not as pronounced as we might think. 

And Professor Vincent Deary from Northumbria University has spent many years running a clinic for people who are chronically ill and who can sometimes find that their illness changes who they are. He makes the case for working to accept ourselves as we are before we think about changing. 

Producer: Lorna Stewart
Content Editor: Ilan Goodman
Technical Producers: Emma Harth & Gayl Gordon
Production Coordinator: Jana Holesworth

Can you change your personality?

Are ADHD-like symptoms during perimenopause just down to hormonal changes or could they actually be revealing undiagnosed ADHD? Brain fog can be a key symptom of both, which means it's not always easy to tell the difference, leaving women unsure. 'Scummy Mummies' podcaster Helen Thorn shares her experience, while Claudia Hammond unpicks the evidence with Dr Jessica Agnew-Blais. And Kerry explains the impact of getting an ADHD diagnosis in adulthood.

And Catherine Loveday, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Westminster, discusses the difficulties of accurate cognitive tests to measure brain fog. 

Plus, brand-new research on a different way to teach mental health classes in schools. Previously, All in the Mind revealed that evidence for teaching universal strategies was often disappointing. Now Professor Tim Dalgleish at the University of Cambridge has results of a new approach called One Step Back. 

And finally, for anyone who runs or goes to the gym, there's a new study of what's happening in the body when exercising to our favourite music.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond
Producer: Erika Wright
Editor: Ilan Goodman
Production coordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
Sound engineer: Neva Missirian

Is it ADHD or perimenopause?

With moves to fast-track research into psychedelics to treat serious mental health conditions in the US and a flurry of new scientific studies, we look at the issue here. 

How convincing is the evidence that drugs like psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, can help with treatment-resistant depression - and after decades of research, are we on the cusp of seeing these treatments in the UK?

Claudia discusses the science with Dr James Rucker, consultant psychiatrist at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and she chats with Raya, who took part in one of Dr Rucker's studies to hear about what she experienced. 

And why do we often miss what’s right in front of us? 

We hear about inattentional blindness and what we miss from the world around us with mathematician Kit Yates.

And Dr Peter Olusoga, senior lecturer in psychology from Sheffield Hallam University, joins us in the studio with a surprise test of attention for our listeners - and brings with him an intriguing new study about why you think your phone is vibrating… 

...when it isn’t.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond
Producer: Gerry Holt
Editor: Ilan Goodman
Production coordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
Sound engineer: Andrew Garratt 

Details of organisations offering support with mental health, or feelings of despair are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

The promise of psychedelics

In this week’s programme, guest Catherine Loveday, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Westminster, talks to Claudia Hammond about whether people feel emotions about politics differently in the body to everyday emotions. 

Visiting the Institute for the Science of Early years & Youth lab, a child developmental psychology lab studying shared play between parents and children, Claudia observes a mum and daughter participating in their latest study and speaks to director and child psychologist Professor Sam Wass from the University of East London. He explains how these parent-child interactions may be fundamental to how families connect with one another and why paying attention to the same things as your children is the best way to help them sustain their attention on their own as they get older. 

Dr Madeleine Pownall, a feminist psychologist and associate professor in psychology at the University of Leeds, talks to All in the Mind about her new book Absent Minds: The Untold Story of the Women who Changed Psychology Forever. 

Presenter: Claudia Hammond 
Producer: Helena Selby 
Editor: Ilan Goodman 
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

Political emotions; Shared play; Forgotten women in psychology

Claudia Hammond explores intriguing early evidence that a ketogenic diet - high fat, low carbs - might help treat bipolar depression.

We already know this diet can help with some kinds of epilepsy. But now, after a promising pilot study, the Wellcome trust is funding a £7.9 million trial to look at whether it could also help reduce depression in people living with bipolar disorder. Professor Daniel Smith and research fellow Dr Iain Campbell from the University of Edinburgh, take us into the emerging field of ‘metabolic psychiatry’. 

Also in the programme, Professor Nilli Lavie of UCL reveals what happens to our brain’s grey matter as we try to stay focused in an age of constant distraction. As information and entertainment are always within reach, her research asks how these shifting habits may be reshaping our attention - and our brains.

And Professor Daryl O’Connor discusses emerging research into the hormone oxytocin and its surprising role in wound healing, as well as new insights into how cultural experiences might help slow the ageing process.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond 
Producer: Pamela Rutherford
Studio Manager: Tim Heffer 
Production Coordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth 
Content Editor: Ilan Goodman

Could a keto diet help treat bipolar depression?

How does reading shape our mind and spirit? Why do novels make us feel more human? 

In front of a live audience at the Hay Festival of Literature & Arts, Claudia Hammond looks at the science of what reading does to the mind and explores the profound impact it can have on our lives and well-being. 
 
She is joined on stage by award-winning novelist and travel writer Joanna Kavenna; Dr Paula Byrne, Jane Austen biographer, writer and co-founder of ReLit: The Bibliotherapy Foundation and Ben Alderson-Day, Professor in Psychology at Durham University and lead researcher on ReaderBank, an ongoing research project studying reading, imagination and wellbeing.
 
With these leading experts in psychology and the literary world, she examines the range of imaginative experiences that fiction readers have, whether novels can deepen our capacity for empathy and the therapeutic effect of reading on our minds.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond 
Producer: Helena Selby
Editor: Ilan Goodman 
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

How does reading fiction impact our imagination and mental health?

What would you say is the difference between the mind and the brain? 

Claudia delves into this complex question after listener Paul got in touch to ask about Near Death Experiences. What can they tell us about the mind, the brain and who we are? Anil Seth, Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex and author of Being You tackles this profound topic. 

Studio guest Catherine Loveday discusses brand new research on how exactly the brain brings old memories from our pasts into our minds. 

And Anita got in touch after hearing our discussion of knowledge theft, asking what motivates idea-stealing and whether it’s always intentional. Lillian Ellis, Assistant Professor at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia shares the evidence on 'cryptomnesia' - the common act of plagiarising ideas unconsciously.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond
Producer: Erika Wright
Editor: Ilan Goodman
Production coordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
Studio engineers: Mary Stone and Sue Maillot

What do out-of-body experiences tell us about consciousness?

Everyone experiences unwanted thoughts from time to time. 

But how does it feel to be trapped in a constant cycle of intrusive thoughts and repetitive behaviours?

This is the reality of life for many people with obsessive compulsive disorder, a common - but commonly misunderstood - mental health condition. 

So today we’re dedicating the programme to understanding OCD and how it’s treated.

We’ll visit Britain’s only inpatient unit, Seacole Ward at Springfield Hospital in London, where we’ll meet Albert and Emily who explain what it’s like when life is governed by OCD, and consultant psychiatrist Dr Ilenia Pampaloni who likens intensive treatment to "bootcamp" where patients must face their worst fears 24 hours a day.

We're also joined in the studio by Dr Bruce Clark, consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital in London, to tackle some ingrained OCD stereotypes and dissect the common phrase, "I'm a bit OCD". 

Bruce offers advice on how to spot early signs of OCD and what we should do if we’re worried - and explains how he stays hopeful because the condition is so treatable.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond
Producer: Gerry Holt
Editor: Ilan Goodman
Production coordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
Sound engineers: Giles Aspen & Tim Heffer 

Details of organisations offering information and support with obsessive-compulsive disorder are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline

Overcoming OCD

Claudia Hammond and guests offer insights into tackling knowledge theft and discourteous emails. 

Dr Emma Russell, occupational psychologist and reader in occupational and organisational psychology from the University of Sussex, has insights into perpetrators of disrespectful emails. And studio guest Dr Pete Olusoga, senior lecturer in psychology at Sheffield Hallam University, tells Claudia about new research into knowledge theft and how to make repairs if it happens.

And Dr Madoka Kumashiro, from Goldsmiths, University of London, will discuss the Michaelangelo phenomenon – the idea that spending time with people who bring out the best in us helps to reveal our ideal inner self. 

And finally, Pete Olusoga has research on mind-blanking which is increasingly thought to be a distinct brain state, different to mind-wandering or sleep.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond
Producers: Lorna Stewart and Gerry Holt
Studio Managers: Giles Aspen and Mary Stone
Production Coordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
Content Editor: Ilan Goodman

Toxic work behaviours, mind blanking, and why spending time with friends makes you more yourself

In Anatomy of Touch Claudia Hammond asks whether people have enough touch in their lives and what has been the impact of Covid-19.
Covid-19 and social distancing have changed how most people feel about touch but even before Covid-19 there was a concern about the decrease of touch in society. Michael Bannissy of Goldsmiths University of London discusses the results of the BBC Touch test and leading researchers reveal their findings about the lack of touch.

Claudia meets John, who, growing up during the Second World War, endured a lack of touch in his childhood and discovers how in adult life he overcame this absence of touch and why touch remains so important to him. And we discover solutions to touch hunger and simple ways to compensate for the lack of touch.

Anatomy of Touch: Hunger

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