All in the Mind

Claudia Hammond chats to All in the Mind Awards judge, writer and former doctor Adam Kay. Adam shares his mental health first aid kit, the importance of saying thank you and why you should nominate someone for an Award.

Plus, how do you judge another person’s emotions? New research suggests that children and adults use different information to reach a conclusion on how someone is feeling.

And Claudia is joined by Kavita Vedhara, professor of health psychology at Cardiff University. Kavita shares how stress can scramble your internal GPS and how the brain may have evolved from two separate systems.

If you would like to nominate someone for the All in the Mind Awards, then head to bbc.co.uk/allinthemindawards. You’ll find the terms and conditions and the privacy notice on the website, and you must be over 18 to send in a nomination. You have until 1pm on Friday the 8th of January 2027 to enter.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond

Have you ever had a partner or friend suddenly stop all communication without any explanation?

This week we're talking all about the psychology of ghosting.

Is ghosting another person ever acceptable? And if we want to reject someone, how can we do it more kindly?

And Claudia visits a unique canal boat project supporting people who have experienced psychosis, where she hears stories of recovery, connection and hope.

What difference can early intervention in psychosis make to someone’s recovery?

Presenter: Claudia Hammond

Details of organisations offering help and support with mental health are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline, or you can call for free, at any time to hear recorded information on 08000 155 998.

The All in the Mind Awards are back for 2027, and nominations are open now!

Claudia Hammond hears from previous finalists on what the Awards mean to them – and Sir Stephen Fry sends in a special note on why the Awards are so important.

Also, how can music make a difference to life with Parkinson’s disease? We investigate prompted by one of our listeners, and hear how even just imagining music could have an impact.

And Claudia is joined by Daryl O’Connor, professor of psychology at the University of Leeds, who shares new research on how listening to music calms our brains. Plus, Claudia and Daryl try some slow-paced breathing in the studio to help lower stress levels.

If you would like to nominate someone for the All in the Mind Awards, then head to bbc.co.uk/allinthemindawards. You’ll find the terms and conditions and the privacy notice on the website, and you must be over 18 to send in a nomination. You have until 1pm on Friday the 8th of January 2027 to enter.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond