All in the Mind Folgen

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

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?

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