All in the Mind

Stress at work. Adam Kay, an ex junior doctor turned author and stand up performer, published the diary of his time of working in the NHS. It struck a chord and sold over a million copies in the UK. It's a story of working under duress, long hours and limited resources which many people can identify with and he delivered over 1200 babies in those circumstances. Gail Kinman is Professor of Occupational Health Psychology at the University of Bedfordshire. Gail's worked with doctors, nurses, prison officers and social workers. Together with presenter Claudia Hammond and an audience they look at what stress is, how people burn out as well as how to spot the warning signs. What can individuals do to protect themselves and what are the responsibilities of the organisations they work for?

Claudia finds out about a new approach to childhood anxiety - an intervention for anxious parents to help them manage their own fears and how they impact their parenting. She meets parents on the course run by Sussex Partnership NHS Trust and talks to Professor Sam Cartwright-Hatton from Sussex University who explains what can be done to help prevent mums and dads transmit their own fears to their children. Pamela Qualter from Manchester University discusses new findings on what predicts mental well-being in children. After several suicides in St Ives in Cambridgeshire, residents decided to prioritise mental health and make it a place where people are encouraged to open up about their feelings in the pub, barbers and even at Pilates. Olivia Crellin reports. Also in the programme, research has found that people who live in areas of high air pollution experience more psychosis. But why and what might be the mechanism? Pamela Qualter discusses.

Claudia talks to Professor Steven Rogelberg about the science of meetings. Should we get rid of them altogether? Or what can we do to improve them? Also, how can we help those with dementia sleep better? Professor Susan McCurry and Dr Alpar Lazar discuss the latest research on sleep-regulation for people with dementia. And how good are we at estimating the size of our bodies? Claudia visits Birkbeck, University of London where Renata Sadibolova and Professor Matthew Longo conduct an experiment to see how good Claudia is at estimating her body size.

Claudia Hammond explores the psychology of motivation and procrastination with an audience at the Cheltenham Science Festival. Is willpower a good source of motivation? And why being a chronic procrastinator is bad for your health but there are ways to stop. Claudia is joined by guests: BBC presenter and Team GB triathlete, Louise Minchin, who talks about her route from journalist to representing team GB in triathlon world championships; Fuschia Sirois from Sheffield University, who discusses procrastination, why we do it and how we can stop; and Ian Taylor from Loughborough University, who discusses some of the best ways to motivate ourselves to achieve our goals.

Claudia undergoes a novel treatment for her spider phobia. She meets Professor Sarah Garfinkel at her Sussex lab who has trialled a new technique which involves tuning in to the beat of the heart and finding a quicker way to dampen down and reduce arachnophobia. Does it work for Claudia and does the method allow her to get closer to Terry the tarantula? Also why stepping into someone else's shoes doesn't mean you'll see their point of view and can even mean you can become more entrenched in your own, original views. And are empathic cars the vehicles of the future?

New research shows that we are more envious of someone else's covetable experience before it happens than after it has passed.

Non-Disclosure Agreements can be used to prevent employees discussing allegations of misbehaviour in the workplace with friends, family and even a therapist. But what is the impact of this silence? Claudia Hammond talks to psychologist Nina Burrowes about the effect of not talking about abusive behaviour and Zelda Perkins shares her experience of signing an NDA and the impact it had on her mental health.

Leonardo da Vinci produced some masterpieces but historical accounts show he struggled to complete his works - did da Vinci have ADHD?

Claudia visits The Listening Place – a small charity that provides support for anyone who, for whatever reason feels that life is no longer worth living. Visitors are able to speak to the same trained volunteer for an hour every fortnight. Claudia talks to Jon who first visited the charity 18 months ago when he was in desperate need of support. She meets volunteer Lucy who supported Jon during his time at The Listening Place.

Also, new research that suggests that even those whose lives don't revolve around logic and numbers can have an appreciation for mathematical "beauty".

The studio guest is Professor Catherine Loveday from the University of Westminster.

Producer: Caroline Steel

Universities globally are increasingly being asked by students for trigger warnings on course material that could cause distress and the universities are responding. But what is the evidence they work? All in the Mind talks to Mevagh Sanson, one of the psychologists who has done the first empirical research to find out. The conclusion is – they don’t. She talks to Claudia about the research and its implications. Also, there are many myths about Vincent van Gogh and his mental health. His creative genius has been linked to his struggles with his mental health but as curator at Tate Britain, Carol Jacobi explains he only experienced episodes of mental illness in the last 18 months of his life and far from being a symptom of his illness, he painted in order to stay well. Claudia and Carol discuss why some of the myths about Vincent Van Gogh, his incredible genius and his mental health still persist today. Mathijs Lucassen from the Open University joins Claudia to discuss the government's select committee enquiry into reality TV.

Claudia visits Café Conversations – a weekly meet up in West London for people who are feeling lonely. The café group was organised by Louise Kay who felt lonely after her husband was diagnosed with Parkinson’s and wants to help people in the same position. The dark triad, a term coined by psychology researchers, is a group of three personality traits: narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy. Claudia speaks to Professor Scott Kauffman from Columbia University; he has decided enough focus has been given to dark personality traits so he created a light triad: faith in humanity, treating people as ends unto themselves and humanism. He explains how we all have light and dark traits within us and also how to find out how light or dark your own personality might be. Artist Chuck Mullin explains how and why she conveys her anxiety and depression through drawing cartoon pigeons. Also, listeners who have shared their experiences of aphantasia and spatial navigation.

Producer: Caroline Steel

Remember that dress? In All in the mind recorded in front of an audience at the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead, Claudia Hammond delves into the psychology and neuroscience of our visual experience. How do we know we all see the same colours? And why do adults look away from other people’s faces when they’re trying to concentrate? We hear from the visual neuroscientist trying to work out exactly what we all see when we look at colours and from the psychologist training the police and teachers that it’s ok if people look away when they talk to you. It doesn’t mean they’re lying. It could mean they’re concentrating.

Producer: Caroline Steel

Claudia talks to Catherine Loveday about her new research trying to find out why some people have difficulty navigating and what strategies might help. Madeleine Finlay reports from the 'Extreme Imagination' conference at Exeter University about people with aphantasia who have no mind's eye - who can't visualise friends, family, objects or anything. She meets people with the condition and the researchers trying to understand it. And the musical all about depression, 'A Super happy story about feeling Super sad'. How to make the experience of depression into an uplifting musical. Catherine Loveday tells Claudia about new research looking into why people with depression seek out sad music and explains that, contrary to the idea that it maintains low mood, people with depression find it calming and even empathetic.