Minding Your Mind

Is anger useful? Where does it come from? Why is it so hard to control? When we lose our temper, why do we so often regret it? Sure, anger helped us punch out sabre-tooths, but how useful is it the 21st century?

If you have any questions or comments email Ian and James at [email protected] . Let them know any other topics you’d like them to cover.

To find out more about depression and support services you can contact Head to Health at www.headtohealth.gov.au  Beyond Blue at www.beyondblue.org.au , Lifeline at www.lifeline.org.au or on 13 11 14 and www.headspace.org.au. Thanks to Future Generation Global.

What challenges do people, especially young people and women, face when they present for mental health care?  Psychiatrist Dr Liz Scott joins us to discuss the ways in which people’s experience of mental health services can be less than ideal, and what we can do to improve them.

Dr Liz Scott is a psychiatrist and an Associate Professor and Principal Research Fellow at the Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney

If you have any questions or comments email Ian and James at [email protected] . Let them know any other topics you’d like them to cover.

To find out more about depression and support services you can contact Head to Health at www.headtohealth.gov.au  Beyond Blue at www.beyondblue.org.au , Lifeline at www.lifeline.org.au or on 13 11 14 and www.headspace.org.au. Thanks to Future Generation Global.

In the old days we viewed the body and the mind as two very separate things. Not any more. The Health Report and Coronacast presenter Dr Norman Swan joins us to discuss how taking care of your physical health can also improve your mental health. We discuss, diet, exercise, alcohol, sleep, chronic pain and more.

Dr Norman Swan’s new book is  So You Think You Know What’s Good For You? The Ultimate Health Guide

If you have any questions or comments email Ian and James at [email protected] . Let them know any other topics you’d like them to cover.

To find out more about depression and support services you can contact Head to Health at www.headtohealth.gov.au  Beyond Blue at www.beyondblue.org.au , Lifeline at www.lifeline.org.au or on 13 11 14 and www.headspace.org.au. Thanks to Future Generation Global

What progress have employers made in taking better care of the mental health of their people? Samantha Mostyn AO, a corporate and not-for-profit leader and one of Australia’s’ first mental health commissioners, joins us. In the age of COVID when work, employment and education have been disrupted, what more can be done by business, and the non-government sector to improve mental health.

If you have any questions or comments email Ian and James at [email protected] . Let them know any other topics you’d like them to cover.

To find out more about depression and support services you can contact Head to Health at www.headtohealth.gov.au  Beyond Blue at www.beyondblue.org.au , Lifeline at www.lifeline.org.au or on 13 11 14 and www.headspace.org.au. Thanks to Future Generation Global

This is the Astra Zeneca ep. It’s about how we calculate risk and make decisions. Is our assessment of risk governed by our rational mind, or by our emotions? Do we overestimate the risk of doing something (e.g. taking a vaccine) and underestimate the risk of not doing something (e.g. not taking a vaccine). When we face tiny risks like a 1 in a million chance, are the numbers so big we can’t compute them? And if we aren’t being completely rational in the way we assess risk, how can we get better at it?

If you have any questions or comments email Ian and James at [email protected] . Let them know any other topics you’d like them to cover.

To find out more about depression and support services you can contact Head to Health at www.headtohealth.gov.au  Beyond Blue at www.beyondblue.org.au , Lifeline at www.lifeline.org.au or on 13 11 14 and www.headspace.org.au. Thanks to Future Generation Global.

Anxiety can be important and useful in helping us to be aware of, and react to, threats, study for exams and prepare for job interviews. But why does worry sometimes get out of control? When does anxiety become a mental health issue? And when it does, how do we get an over-anxious mind under control?

If you have any questions or comments email Ian and James at [email protected] . Let them know any other topics you’d like them to cover.

To find out more about depression and support services you can contact Head to Health at www.headtohealth.gov.au  Beyond Blue at www.beyondblue.org.au , Lifeline at www.lifeline.org.au or on 13 11 14 and www.headspace.org.au. Thanks to Future Generation Global.

In ep 5 we discussed the importance of social connection, and whether modern psychology and wellbeing focusses too much on the individual and not enough on the group. In this ep Professor Jaky Troy, Director of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research, at USYD joins to us to explore how indigenous Australian culture takes more of a group orientated approach to mental health and wellbeing, and some of the benefits of doing so.

If you have any questions or comments email Ian and James at [email protected] . Let them know any other topics you’d like them to cover.

To find out more about depression and support services you can contact Head to Health at www.headtohealth.gov.au  Beyond Blue at www.beyondblue.org.au , Lifeline at www.lifeline.org.au or on 13 11 14 and www.headspace.org.au. Thanks to Future Generation Global.

Modern psychology focusses mainly on what you, the individual, can do to improve your mental health, but are we missing something? Humans are social animals, so shouldn’t we also focus on what we can do to improve the collective mental health of the various groups we belong to – our family group, friend group, workplace and community.  How do we go about doing that?

If you have any questions or comments email Ian and James at [email protected] . Let them know any other topics you’d like them to cover.

To find out more about depression and support services you can contact Head to Health at www.headtohealth.gov.au  Beyond Blue at www.beyondblue.org.au , Lifeline at www.lifeline.org.au or on 13 11 14 and www.headspace.org.au. Thanks to Future Generation Global.

Ian and James discuss lockdown. Being in a Covid lockdown isn’t fun, but until enough of us get vaccinated, they are a fact of life. In lockdown you might feel bored, worried, stressed, uncertain about the future and financially anxious. And day two could be worse. What can you do to take care of your mental health during lockdown?

If you have any questions or comments about depression, or other areas of mental health, email Ian and James at [email protected] . Let them know any other topics you’d like them to cover.

To find out more about depression and support services you can contact Head to Health at www.headtohealth.gov.au  Beyond Blue at www.beyondblue.org.au , Lifeline at www.lifeline.org.au or on 13 11 14 and www.headspace.org.au. Thanks to Future Generation Global.

Music: https://www.purple-planet.com

Ian and James discuss body clocks. What are they? How do they work? And how can understanding our own body clock help you control anxiety and depression?

If you have any questions or comments about depression, or other areas of mental health, email Ian and James at [email protected] . Let them know any other topics you’d like them to cover.

To find out more about depression and support services you can contact Head to Health at www.headtohealth.gov.au  Beyond Blue at www.beyondblue.org.au , Lifeline at www.lifeline.org.au or on 13 11 14 and www.headspace.org.au. Thanks to Future Generation Global

Music: https://www.purple-planet.com