All in the Mind

All in the Mind Awards

One in Four is a support group for people who have been sexually abused as children. The group offers counselling and advocacy and is a finalist in the All in the Mind Awards.

Sporting Memories

Claudia discovers how remembering sporting events are an important way to trigger memories and we have a report from the Sporting Memories group in Haddington East Lothian.

Therapists Dreaming

Magician Chris Cox tricks Claudia Hammond's attention system and Professor Nilli Lavie explains what is happening in our brains when our visual system is overloaded; Claudia hears from Mike who nominated Pat in the professional category of the All in the Mind Mental Health Awards after she guided him through addiction and mental health problems lasting 15 years; and psychologist Guy Holmes discusses the difficulties of navigating professional boundaries.

Claudia Hammond hears from finalists, Andrew and his ex boss Steve in the All in the Mind awards and how Steve went the extra mile to help keep Andrew in a job. Also tips on how to help a friend or family member who has or you suspect has a mental health problem. Also why senior City executives are calling for urgent changes to mental health provision for workers in the Square Mile and beyond.

Why does one child become rebellious and another not? Claudia Hammond talks to Mark McDermott from the University of East London about new research into parenting and rebelliousness. She also hears from another shortlisted entry to the All in the Mind mental health awards. Plus, a scheme to fast track mental health social workers. Will this improve the image of the profession? Claudia Hammond reports on the new Think Ahead proposals.

Are mental health services in crisis? Claudia Hammond talks to Sue Bailey, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, about her fears that mental health is at a tipping point and could be heading towards its own Stafford Hospital style scandal. Martin McShane from NHS England and Minister for Care and Support, Norman Lamb, respond. Claudia talks to historian, Jay Winter about why he believes shell shock in World War One was hugely underdiagnosed. And she hears from Mindout, a support group for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Brighton and a finalist in the All in the Mind mental health awards.

Claudia Hammond is joined by mental health campaigner, Marion Janner to discuss some of the entries to the All in the Mind mental health awards. She hears from one pair of finalists, Helen and Lin. Helen nominated her mental health nurse, Lin in the professional category. Helen explains the difference Lin's help made and how she believes she saved her life. Also in the programme in World War I the Craiglockhart hospital near Edinburgh was a military psychiatric hospital treating shell shocked soldiers. Claudia travels to the hospital to see recently discovered editions of The Hydra - a magazine produced by patients and edited by Wilfred Owen with poems by Siegfried Sassoon who were both patients. Claudia hears how the magazine didn't talk directly about treatment or how soldiers were ill, referring instead to someone feeling a little seedy or not at the top of their game. And while the celebrated poets have made the magazine famous she finds out that the other contributions from regular soldiers are as equally moving.

Claudia Hammond reports on a mental health triage scheme being run by Leicestershire police force, which has led to a decrease in the number of people with mental illness being detained under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act.

Praising children with low self-esteem may seem like a good way to boost their confidence, but a new study by psychologist Eddie Brummelman of Utrecht University suggests that this can backfire and make them less likely to take on new challenges.

Scott Stossel describes himself as "a twitchy bundle of phobias, fears and neuroses". He has a fear of heights, flying, public speaking and vomiting and nearly couldn't attend his own wedding. In his new book "My Age of Anxiety" he describes how until thirty-five years ago, anxiety did not exist as a diagnostic category, yet all through history descriptions have existed and each age thinks they are uniquely anxious. Scott explores the theories surrounding anxiety, including the potentially positive sides of the condition.

Claudia Hammond asks whether the use of physical restraint in mental health services should be eliminated. She's joined by Jimmy Noak, director of nursing at Broadmoor Hospital, and by service user consultant, Jane McGrath, to find out what restraint involves, when it's used, when it goes wrong and why some people even ask for restraint for themselves when they are in crisis.

Also Claudia talks to Sophie Forster from Sussex University about her research into mind wandering and asks whether mind wanderers are less happy than others. And what are the challenges of starting a new business when you have a serious mental health problem? Claudia talks to one listener about her journey to self employment.

Claudia Hammond finds out why your exercise regime could be hindered if you have been taxing your brain too much. She talks to Professor Samuele Marcora from the University of Kent about his research on why the chemical by products of being mentally exhausted can actually make physical exercise much harder. He discusses his new research with the Ministry of Defence where he is finding that soldiers can be trained to resist the overwhelming effects of cognitive fatigue. Also in the programme the moral distress experienced by nurses and more results from the BBC Stress test and what it reveals about mental well-being.

Claudia takes a musical journey inside the brain looking at the very latest neuroscientific research on everything from how we notice patterns in music to why the beat can be so powerful.

We're not born with musical ability, but the brain is an efficient machine that lets us learn the rules. But what about the people who can't understand music? And how can our emotional responses to music be used therapeutically?

When it comes to understanding the mind and the brain, the beauty of music is that there are so many dimensions to it - there's pitch, rhythm, melody, our memories and that all-important emotional element. These are rich pickings for those using it to try to understand the workings of the mind better and to develop new therapies.