All in the Mind

They call it "the knock" - when the police are at the door and demand to take away laptops and phones to search for evidence of images of child sexual abuse. Our reporter Jo Morris talks to "Emma" (not her real name) about the moment her life was turned upside down when her then husband was accused of looking at indecent images of children. She felt isolated and wasn't given any support to explain to her children about what was happening, once social services had made sure that the children hadn't been directly harmed by their father. She told her younger children that their father's computer had been taken away because it was broken - and was more open with the older children about what he'd done. The family moved house and changed their name once vigilantes became aware of the case and her oldest child had suicidal thoughts and was hospitalised.

Emma eventually got support from the charity Children Heard and Seen, which offers face-to-face support to children in Oxford and Birmingham and online support to families across the country. Sarah Burrows and James Otley explain how their online groups and mentoring help to support families like Emma's.

The Ministry of Justice say that there is help for children who are victims of crime, but a victim is defined as someone who is directly affected by a criminal offence, so families of offenders are not deemed to be victims of crime. There are no plans to change this as it could result in victims of crime receiving less support.

Robin Dunbar examines the psychology of religion in his new book How Religion Evolved and Why It Endures. The Emeritus Professor of Evolutionary Psychology at the University of Oxford believes that the number 150 which he popularised as the "optimum" number for successful social groups also plays a significant role in religious gatherings. He explains how the bonds created by religion offer benefits to individuals and communities.

Our studio guest Professor Catherine Loveday from the University of Westminster offers ideas on how to avoid doomscrolling, when the news feels overwhelming and whether professional or amateur musicians are more at risk of developing anxiety and depression.

Producer: Paula McGrath

Made in partnership with the Open University

Claudia Hammond explores the psychology of regret with an audience at the Cheltenham Science Festival. What role do rueful thoughts on "what might have been" play in our lives? Is regret a wasted emotion or does it have some hidden benefits?

Joining Claudia on stage : Teresa McCormack - Professor of Cognitive Development at the School of Psychology, Queen's University Belfast who researches how regret in childhood can shape our decisions; novelist and essayist Sophie White - whose latest novel The Snag List examines the opportunity to go back in life and follow the road not taken; Fuschia Sirois - Professor of social and health psychology at Durham University whose research examines the impact of those "what if" thoughts on our health and wellbeing.

Producer Adrian Washbourne

Made in partnership with the Open University

When breastfeeding goes wrong some women feel guilty that they have failed to do what should come naturally. But Professor Amy Brown from Swansea University says those with the most severe physical and emotional impact could be experiencing trauma, similar to the effects of a traumatic birth. We hear from Linzi Blakey who had problems with breastfeeding when she gave birth to her daughter and son and had to give up before she wanted to. A specialist therapist has helped her to realise that she did the best she could - despite a lack of the right kind of support when she was feeling vulnerable.

Awkwardness can result when we do something embarrassing - and science writer Melissa Dahl set out to write a book on how to overcome those feelings of embarrassment. Cringeworthy: How To Make The Most Out of Uncomfortable Situations is the result of her discussions with scientists. She challenges herself to feats such as performing a stand-up routine, going to see a professional cuddler and reading out her teenage diaries to an audience at the Brooklyn show, Mortified. She now feels awkwardness is part of being human- and encourages us all to show more empathy to each other.

Claudia's studio guest Catherine Loveday, Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Westminster shares her own cringeworthy stories plus news of a spat in the world of psychedelic drugs research and how hallucinations seem to be a lot more common than we thought.

Producer: Paula McGrath

Back in 2020 at height of pandemic lockdown the “ Social Study” a longitudinal study began looking at the psychological and social impact of the pandemic involving over 95,000 UK adults. What started as a 12 week study has now been running for 2 years. So now, as we’re emerging from restrictions of the pandemic, epidemiologist Daisy Fancourt of University College London discusses the post -pandemic’s impact on our mental health.

Do you find yourself keep getting lost? Many factors influence our ability to navigate but the environment we grow up in is often overlooked. Could living in the city compared to the countryside help or hinder our sense of direction? Claudia hears from Professor Hugo Spiers whose major new study across 40 countries reveals people who grew up in rural or suburban areas have better spatial navigation skills than those raised in cities, particularly cities with grid-pattern streets.

Good conversation can be one of life’s most enjoyable experiences, but we are surprisingly bad at judging how well conversations could go with a stranger. Mike Kardas of North Western university has attempted to examine the time course of enjoyment after getting 1000 participants to strike up a conversation with a stranger. Surprisingly we don’t run out of things to say. but how deep can a conversation go?

Claudia Hammond’s studio guest is Professor of health psychology Daryl O’Connor from the University of Leeds

Producer Adrian Washbourne

Claudia Hammond reports on a trend which has emerged from the world-famous Chelsea Flower Show this year - a growing number of gardens designed with mental health in mind. So what is it about gardens and nature which makes us feel better?

The Mothers for Mothers "This Too Shall Pass" garden is designed by Polly Wilkinson - a former counsellor who's worked with adolescents and new mothers with anxiety and depression. The charity's CEO Maria Viner wanted to reflect the joys and pain of motherhood - so Polly constructed a pathway with a crack in it - which narrows and is almost "fixed", echoing the impact that peer support can bring. The lifting of low mood is also seen as muted green and blue flowers give way to apricots and pinks.

Sue Stuart- Smith is a psychiatrist, psychologist and now author of the bestselling book The Well Gardened Mind. She says it's hard to untangle the factors which might be contributing to the impact of nature on us. Dr Stuart-Smith explains how a study in the British Medical Journal found 8,000 studies on the impact of nature - but just 8 were randomised controlled trials. where people are randomly allocated gardening or another activity - so more research is needed.

The mental health charity Mind has its first ever garden at Chelsea this year which will be relocated in Barrow-in-Furness once the show is over. We hear from Alice - who had an eating disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder from an early age - and Faris, who has post-traumatic stress disorder, and sought asylum in the UK after he was orphaned in the conflict in Sudan. They say that growing vegetables and caring for bonsai plants has helped to relieve their symptoms.

The Place2Be garden will also be relocated at the end of the flower show - to Viking School in Northolt, west London. For the last 15 years the children there have been able to get support from the charity's school-based counsellor Miss Angela. CEO Catherine Roche says the garden will provide a safe space so the pupils relax during a busy day. The children helped to design the garden's oak benches with gardener Jamie Butterworth. He says having a mum who's a teacher and a dad who's a mental health nurse made the Place2Be the perfect match for him.

Made in Partnership with The Open University

Instagram is awash with people sharing dream homes, holidays, partners and jobs which they claim to have 'manifested' into being. Proponants of manifestation say that thinking positive thoughts attracts tangible positive things into your life. They believe that 'asking the universe' for what you want via journaling, mood boards, and mantras can have a powerful real-world impact. Hayley Sparkes is a successful TV presenter and model but when the pandemic started she found herself with no work or income and turned to manifestation to try to improve her situation. Now she credits manifestation with bringing her a dream partner, home, and job, and all in under a year. Claudia Hammond and her studio guest David Robson ask whether there is any research evidence that manifestation really can change your life.

Last week a passenger in Florida landed a place safely after the pilot become unresponsive. Do you think you could do the same thing in an emergency? Researchers in New Zealand found that people are surprisingly confident about their ability to fly a plane with no training. Claudia talks to one of the researchers, Kayla Jordan from the University of Waikato.

Finally, new research showing a radio soap opera in Burkina Faso changed attitudes towards violent insurgency. Psychologist Rezarta Bilali from New York University talks to Claudia about the power of radio to change minds.

Producer: Lorna Stewart

Air Traffic Control Source: Liveatc.net

What role can psychologist play in supporting the mental health of displaced Ukrainians? Millions of people have had to flee either abroad or to other parts of the country and the implications for mental health are huge – not only in terms of trauma but for those who’ve escaped, the constant anxiety of watching what’s happening back home and worrying about loved ones. Claudia talks to Emily Holmes, Professor of Clinical Neuroscience at Uppsala University, and Clinical Psychologist Professor Marit Sijbrandij of Vue University Amsterdam who have been working to ensure the interventions with the best evidence behind them get used.

And we pay a visit to the Dreamachine, an immersive sound and light installation that uses the power of flickering white light to create psychedelic experiences. Will it open a new window into how our brains make sense of the world? We hear from two scientists behind the project - Anil Seth Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience, University of Sussex and Fiona MacPherson Professor of Philosophy, University of Glasgow

Claudia Hammond’s studio guest is Professor of Health Psychology Daryl O’Connor of Leeds University, armed with new research into how deliberately seeking out discomfort can help drive our personal growth

Producer Adrian Washbourne

Many of us tend to dismiss dreams as merely the churning of the brain— but for much of human history, dreams were taken very seriously. Claudia Hammond speaks to Brazilian neuroscientist Sidarta Ribeiro who in his new wide ranging book The Oracle of Night wants to recapture that seriousness of dreams and the science of dreaming, drawing upon on his extensive career researching everything from sleep and memory to psychedelic drugs.

As brain scans have become more detailed in recent decades, MRI or magnetic resonance imaging - has revealed correlations between brain anatomy or function and illness, that have suggested new ways to diagnose and treat psychiatric, psychological and neurological conditions. But why has the promise been so slow to turn into reality? Claudia Hammond is joined by Sophie Scott, Director of the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and also by neuroscientist Scott Marek of Washington University in St Louis. His new research offers some insights into why.

Good listening is truly hearing what the other person has to say without putting your own layer of experience on top of it. But who’s best at it – extroverts or introverts? Today’s studio guest, Prof.Catherine Loveday of the University of Westminster weighs up the latest evidence.

Producer Adrian Washbourne

When a child is suffering from mental health problems it feels natural for a parent to feel sad and anxious. But when Ursula Saunders' son refused to go to secondary school her life was turned upside down: his problems dominated family life, she gave up work and couldn't stop crying. She searched online for support but it all seemed to be directed at children, with nothing on offer for parents. So she sought advice from two psychologist friends Professor Roz Shafran and Dr Alice Welham. After speaking to dozens of other parents about what helped them, they co-wrote How To Cope When Your Child Can't - a collection of experiences and information from psychological research. We hear from Ursula and Roz about their top tips for parents like problem solving, self-compassion and creating boundaries.

Roz Shafran offers advice to families waiting for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, which have been under particular strain during the Covid pandemic.

We also hear from Lily who got support from youth worker Jo at Rise Youth Empowerment in south London when she was struggling with overwhelming anxiety. Lily had already had contact with mental health services but she found that the less formal approach from Rise helped to build up trust and gave her the confidence to make her way back into education. She’s now in the second year of a degree course, has her own flat and is engaged. Jo says that they want to help young people to become resilient – encouraging them to make calls themselves to housing or healthcare professionals rather than doing it for them. Lily says she now feels able to gives back to Rise by presenting workshops for other young people.

And there’s news of a study in a German school – where surprisingly few pupils opted for a later start to their day, offered to see if it helped to boost the amount of sleep they got.

In the final part of the Anatomy of Kindness, Claudia Hammond and guests ask 'Can Bosses be Kind'? Using evidence from the Kindness Test, the world's largest psychological study into kindness, Claudia starts her quest with Thom Elliot Co-founder of Pizza Pilgrims, who deliberately set out to foster a kind culture in a sector not exactly known for its benevolence. They're joined for pizza by Prof Robin Banerjee, architect of the Kindness Test to discuss the findings and examine whether kindness in business really does result in success. Joe Folkman is the perfect person to ask. He runs an evidence based leadership development firm and produced a fascinating study "I'm a boss why should I care if you like me"? It turns out there's a strong correlation between being likeable and effectiveness. Such concepts are backed up by a relatively new field of research called 'ethical leadership' pioneered by Professor Mike Brown. But 60,000 people who took part in the Kindness Test revealed time pressures as one of the barriers to being kind, so how easy is it to be a kind leader on a day to day basis? Claudia meets former head teacher Ros McMullen who tells some home truths about leadership in a culture of relentless pressure and accountability. Plus Lisa Smosarski, editor in Chief of Stylist magazine shares shocking office stories of the 'Devil Wears Prada' era and discusses wider societal shifts that may be contributing to a kinder culture in her industry. And Claudia's fellow science presenters, Robin Ince, Hannah Fry and Marnie Chesterton recall some old bad boss stories of their own.

Producer, Erika Wright