All in the Mind

BBC Radio 4
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All in the Mind Podcast

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

  1. 4 DAYS AGO

    FND - the most common disorder you’ve probably never heard of; political polarisation; All in the Mind Awards judge ZeZe

    Functional Neurological Disorder, or FND, is the most common disorder you’ve probably never heard of. Some say it might be as common as MS or Parkinson’s and yet it’s not well known even by many medical professionals. It can cause seizures, paralysis, convulsions and changes in sensation, as well as pain, fatigue and memory difficulties. It’s caused by a problem with the system in the brain that connects us consciously into our bodies, leaving sufferers unable to access their bodies properly. Because it doesn’t show up on scans and tests it is often not diagnosed effectively, and patients can face difficulties accessing the help they need or even being believed that their symptoms are real. Claudia Hammond sits in on a consultation at the Maudsley Hospital between Emma, a new patient who is having exactly those problems, and Mark Edwards, Professor of Neurology and Interface Disorders at King’s College London. She also meets Callum Alexander, a recovered patient who now volunteers for the charity FND Hope. He was referred by Mark for specialist neurophysiotherapy with Glenn Nielsen at St George’s University Hospital, which had immediate results. Glenn tells us that FND can cause the brain to become excessively focused on actions are normally automatic, such as walking, and that redirecting the brain’s attention can be one way of alleviating it. Meanwhile, Emma is relieved she finally has a name to put to her condition and Mark is pushing for more positive diagnoses of FND. Back in the studio, Claudia is joined by Kavita Vedhara, Professor of Health Psychology at Cardiff University. With increasing polarisation in the US in the run up to the forthcoming presidential election, she presents a study that sheds light on how we might view people who are more nuanced in their approach to controversial topics. You might expect people who are able to express both sides of an argument to thrive in social situations. However, this new research suggests that people with nuanced views are seen as less likeable than those with polarised views, even by those who agree with that person’s ultimate position. How does that impact our chances of being able to have reasoned political debates? The 2025 All in the Mind Awards are now open for nominations. You can nominate individuals, professionals and groups who have helped you in your hardest times. Claudia catches up with ZeZe Sohawon who nominated her psychiatrist Dr Claire Purcell for an award in 2021. Since then ZeZe has set up a youth autism and mental health charity, Emotion Dysregulation and Autism, helping autistic young people who struggle with their emotions leading to mental health problems. The charity is about to start delivering a peer support programme in Birmingham hospitals, and she’s done all of this while studying for a Neuroscience degree. This year she’s a judge for the All in the Mind Awards and tells Claudia why she thinks people should take part. You can find out more about the awards in the programme or by going to bbc.co.uk/radio4/allinthemind where you’ll also find full terms. Entries close 8th January 2025 at 1pm. Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Ben Motley Studio Manager: Emma Harth Production Coordinator: Siobhan Maguire

    28 min
  2. Surfing and mental health, grief for dead celebrities, and being unique

    SEP 17

    Surfing and mental health, grief for dead celebrities, and being unique

    Claudia Hammond has her surfboard and wetsuit at the ready to investigate whether surfing could improve her mental health. And she speaks to Ariane Gerami from the University of Bristol to find out whether the enthusiam for surfing to help your mental health is coming ahead of the evidence. Claudia is joined in the studio by psychologist Dr Peter Olusoga at Sheffield Hallam University. They talk about a study that's found the need for uniqueness has dwindled over the last 20 years. And one of our listeners got in touch to ask why she felt so much grief for someone she had never met, following the death of Michael Mosley . Claudia speaks to sociologist Dr Ruth Penfold-Mounce from the University of York, and psychologist Dr Dara Greenwood from Vassar College in New York, to discuss why we can feel such an intense loss for someone we've never met. And the All in the Mind Awards are open for entries. We hear from Ben May from bereavement charity The New Normal, who won the project category in 2023. Full details about the awards are in the programme, or at bbc.co.uk/radio4/allinthemind where you’ll find full terms and conditions too. Entries close at 1pm on 8th January 2025. Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Editor: Holly Squire Production coordinator: Siobhan Maguire Photo credit: The Wave

    28 min

  3. SEP 10

    Joe Wicks launches the All in the Mind Awards, and why music makes us cry

    Did someone amazing support you through mental health problems and would you like to recognise that support? Claudia Hammond launches the All in the Mind Awards where you can nominate individuals, professionals and groups who have helped you in your hardest times. Full details in the programme or by going to bbc.co.uk/radio4/allinthemind where you’ll also find full terms. Entries close 8th January 2025 at 1pm. We want to recognise friends, family, colleagues, professionals, groups who have supported those with mental health problems. And to launch the awards Claudia talks to Joe Wicks, one of the judges this year, about how he supports his parents with their mental health difficulties, and about his passion for exercise as a route to improving mental health. Claudia is joined by cognitive neuroscientist Catherine Loveday from the University of Westminster. They discuss the role of cortisol in our bodies and how social media trends like #cortisolface are misleading. And Claudia and Catherine are joined in the studio by musician Sean O’Hagan and his neighbour Chris Newman doesn’t understand the joy Sean takes from it. Together they discuss why music makes some of us emotional but leaves others cold. And neuroscientist Catherine attempts to measure Chris’ response to music and discusses musical anhedonia, a condition which affects 5-10% of people including, possibly, Chris. Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Lorna Stewart Studio Manager: Emma Harth Production Coordinator: Siobhan Maguire

    28 min

  4. SEP 3

    Smartphones and children, mental health labels and climate anxiety

    Smartphones are bad for the mental health of children and adolescents. At least, that’s the popular perception that has led to calls for smartphones to be banned for children under a certain age, with numerous media reports drumming home the narrative that smartphones are damaging a generation. But the evidence for a link between smartphones and poor mental health is surprisingly weak, and smartphones also have uses that can be beneficial to children and adults alike. Claudia Hammond talks to Dr Amy Orben, who leads the digital mental health group at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit at the University of Cambridge. As well as her own research, she’s reviewed huge numbers of studies on the topic and says that the panic around smartphones mirrors previous panics about other technologies such as the radio. So how do we allow children to become part of the digital world while also keeping them safe? Claudia is joined in the studio by clinical psychologist Linda Blair, who brings along a new research paper on what it means to get a diagnosis for a mild mental health problem. Diagnostic labels can legitimise help-seeking and boost empathy, but they can also encourage the view that mental health problems are persistent and discourage the idea that you can overcome them. Climate anxiety is a fairly new label, and we hear from a group of people in Fife about how climate change is affecting them emotionally. Claudia then speaks to Caroline Hickman, a psychotherapist who works with climate activists and researches the psychological effects of climate change on young people. Human beings have an amazing capacity for resilience, but most of the problems we have faced in history have had a solution. How do we cope with a crisis that does not have a solution and contains multiple uncertainties?

    28 min

  5. JUN 18

    Toxic positivity

    In the last two years, online searches for ‘toxic positivity’ have spiked. In this discussion from the Cheltenham Science Festival, we find out what toxic positivity is, and how it can hurt you and people around you. In front of a live audience, Claudia Hammond is joined by psychologist Dr Linda Blair, GP and educator Dr Anisha Patel, and wellbeing consultant and content creator Benjy Kusi. Linda has been interested in the rise in the use of the term ‘toxic positivity’ and has noticed how it is having an impact on our wellbeing. She reveals why it is important for us not to suppress ‘negative’ feelings and emotions. Anisha was diagnosed with bowel cancer when she was 39. She authored the book Everything You Hoped You’d Never Need To Know About Bowel Cancer, where she speaks about her diagnosis and treatment journey. She experienced first-hand the harm that toxic positivity can do. Benjy works with many different companies to help improve their inclusion and wellbeing practices. He is the author of the book Hope This Helps and posts frequent videos about lots of tricky issues on TikTok and Instagram. Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Production Coordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth Editor: Holly Squire

    28 min

  6. JUN 11

    Tetris as therapy; internet addiction and teens; the psychology of secrets

    You probably know the video game Tetris, perhaps you’ve even played it, but have you ever thought about it as therapy? Claudia Hammond talks to Professor Emily Holmes from Uppsala University, about her work using Tetris as a psychological intervention for unwanted memories. During the pandemic many ICU workers found they were experiencing intrusive memories about the traumatic events they had experienced. Prof Holmes and her colleague, consultant clinical psychologist Dr Julie Highfield, ran a trial offering Tetris therapy to ICU workers and showed they could reduce intrusive memories significantly. Next, you may have seen headlines this week suggesting that teenage brains could be worryingly and irrevocably changed by excessive internet use. It is the latest in a recent surge of concern about teenagers' relationship to technology. Claudia and studio guest, Sarah king from Sussex University, dig into the research and discover that the evidence isn’t as worrying as the headlines make it sound. And do you have a secret? Apparently most of us do and we can't resist thinking about them even though that rumination can impact our wellbeing. Claudia discusses the psychology of secrets with Dr Michael Slepian from Columbia University in New York. Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Lorna Stewart Production Coordinator: Siobhan Maguire Studio Manager: Emma Harth Content Editor: Holly Squire ICU workers testimony clips taken from https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000j22z

    30 min

  7. JUN 4

    Languishing and the search for meaning in the modern world

    If you’re feeling demotivated and aimless, but you’re not depressed, you might be languishing. But what exactly is languishing, and what can you do about it? Claudia Hammond talks to the sociologist Dr Corey Keyes, who coined the term. He has some solutions that could help you move from languishing to flourishing, as well as poetic descriptions of how nature inspires his work and hopeful tales about the search for meaning in the modern world. We hope that the many children currently going through exams across the country are flourishing, but exam success is far from the only influence on their futures. A new study shows that children who perceive greater household chaos at the age of 16 are more likely to have poor mental health by the age of 23. The most fascinating aspect of the research is that it involved twins living in the same household, and their perceptions of chaos were often wildly different. So what can parents do improve their children’s perception of chaos? Professor Daryl O’Connor from the School of Psychology at the University of Leeds joins Claudia in the studio to look at the evidence. We also have the story of a survivor of child sexual abuse, who fell apart when a weekend away triggered memories of what had happened to him. He went to the police, and eventually his abuser was sent to prison. But the process of doing that destroyed his coping mechanism – to lock it away and ignore it. He tells us how the Salford-based charity We Are Survivors helped him put his life back together. He now encourages abuse survivors to seek help. Details of other organisations that can provide support are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline. And do you have an old friend you’ve lost touch with? Why don’t you get back in touch? New research shows that we’re often reluctant to do so. Claudia and Daryl dig into the detail and wonder whether it could even help us stop languishing. Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Ben Motley Content Editor: Holly Squire Production Coordinator: Siobhan Maguire

    28 min
  8. Grief, summer seasonal affective disorder, and anxiety in older people

    MAY 28

    Grief, summer seasonal affective disorder, and anxiety in older people

    In this episode, Claudia Hammond goes to the Chelsea Flower Show to speak to garden designer Katherine Holland. She credits gardening with helping to ease her grief following the death of her mother. Her Grief Kind garden features a meeting space with three chairs set around a coffee table, to encourage conversations about grief and will include a rotating display of personal objects symbolising loved ones who have died. Professor Catherine Loveday, a psychologist and neuroscientist from the University of Westminster, joins Claudia in the studio to discuss how objects can help us form links in our brains and remember our loved ones. Many of us breathe a sigh of relief when the weather warms up and the sun pops out, but one listener actually finds their mood worsens during the summer. Catherine and Claudia discuss the little-known condition of summer seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Finally, we hear from Professor Andrew Steptoe, a psychologist and epidemiologist from University College London. He heads up the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, which has been running for 20 years. He has found that older people's anxiety levels have remained high following the pandemic. Claudia and Catherine unpick a few of the issues and stereotypes that some people may face. Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Studio Manager: Neva Missirian Production Coordinator: Siobhan Maguire Editor: Holly Squire

    28 min
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4.5
out of 5
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About

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

Information

  • Creator
    BBC Radio 4
  • Years Active
    2013 - 2024
  • Episodes
    275
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © (C) BBC 2024
  • Show Website
    All in the Mind

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