In this week's podcast we discuss five different problems facing the modern world, including the decline in critical thinking, political polarisation, the overreliance on technology and more, and how they are contributing to a rise in mental health problems.

Audio-Essay by Dr. Alex Curmi. Dr. Curmi is a consultant general adult psychiatrist with a sub-speciality in addictions who completed his training in the South London and Maudsley NHS foundation trust. In addition to general adult psychiatry he has a special interest in psychotherapy and mindfulness meditation.

If you would like to invite Alex to speak at your organisation please email [email protected] with "Speaking Enquiry" in the subject line. 

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Nancy Gee, Ph.D is a Professor of Psychiatry in Human Animal Interaction, and the Director of the Centre for Human Animal Interaction at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond, VA. The Centre is the only one of its kind to be housed in a School of Medicine, and in addition to research and educational activities it also houses the “Dogs On Call” therapy dog program. With over 90 DOC volunteer dog-and-handler teams, this program engages in upwards of 100,000 meaningful interactions with patients, staff, and students in the VCU Health system during a typical year.  Nancy is  also the co-editor of “The Role of Companion Animals in the Treatment of Mental Disorders”.

Interviewed by Dr. Alex Curmi, consultant psychiatrist and a UKCP registered psychotherapist in-training.

If you would like to invite Alex to speak at your organisation please email [email protected] with "Speaking Enquiry" in the subject line. 

If you would like to enquire about an online psychotherapy appointment with Dr. Alex, you can email - [email protected]. 

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This is a recording of a Q & A session at Riddlesdown collegiate, a secondary school in South London. For this session, specifically aimed at male staff, Alex was interviewed by Deputy Head of College Andrew Edwards.

Today we cover topics including male mental health issues, lifestyle factors influencing mental health, work life balance, the economics of discomfort, the signs of burnout, cultural trends affecting dating & relationships, criticial thinking and much more.

Dr. Alex Curmi is a consultant general adult psychiatrist with a sub-speciality in addictions who completed his training in the South London and Maudsley NHS foundation trust. He is also a UKCP registered psychotherapist in-training, and has a special interest in mindfulness meditation. 

If you would like to invite Alex to speak at your organisation please email [email protected] with "Speaking Enquiry" in the subject line. 

If you would like to enquire about an online psychotherapy appointment with Dr. Alex, you can email - [email protected].

Give feedback here - [email protected] -  
Follow us here: Twitter @thinkingmindpod Instagram @thinkingmindpodcast

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Dr. Camilla Nord leads the Mental Health Neuroscience Lab at the University of Cambridge, where she holds dual positions as Programme Leader at the  Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit and Assistant Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the Department of Psychiatry. She also holds a Wellcome Career Development Award fellowship, and co-leads an international team of researchers via a Wellcome Mental Health Award. Dr Nord has a longstanding interest in science communication, including many public lectures and a popular science book, The Balanced Brain (Penguin, 2023), a Financial Times, Sunday Times, and Prospect 'Book of the Year'.

This episode was made possible by the Royal College of Psychiatrists Academic Faculty and the Margaret Slack Travelling Fellowship.  

Interviewed by Dr. Anya Borissova - Give feedback here - [email protected] Follow us here: Twitter @thinkingmindpod Instagram @thinkingmindpodcast

If you would like to enquire about an online psychotherapy appointment with Dr. Alex, you can email - [email protected]

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Prof. Ulrike Schmidt is a Professor of Eating Disorders and Director of the Centre for Research on Eating and Weight Disorders at King’s College London. She is also a Consultant Psychiatrist at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. 

Ulrike works to understand fundamental biology and psychological determinants of eating and weight disorders, including obesity. Her research includes multiple trials of new treatments and led to the development of MANTRA, a NICE-recommended psychotherapy for people with anorexia nervosa.

She has also led the development and research on FREED, First Episode Rapid Early Intervention for Eating Disorders a multi-award winning early intervention programme for young people with eating disorders, initially trialled in a few locations in the UK which was so successful it has now been rolled out nationally in England.

Today we discuss:

• The most important distinctions between different eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorders.
• The most important biological, psychological, social and cultural risk factors for developing such a disorder.
• What the path to recovery looks like.
• The FREED the treatment pathway professor Schmidt has done a lot of work on
• Potential novel treatments for eating disorders such as neuromodulation treatments and psychedelic treatments. 

To find out more about FREED:
www.inspirethemind.org/post/early-intervention-for-eating-disorders-grounds-to-celebrate

To find out more about MANTRA:
https://mantraweb.co.uk/

Interviewed by Dr. Alex Curmi, consultant psychiatrist and a UKCP registered psychotherapist in-training.

If you would like to enquire about an online psychotherapy appointment with Dr. Alex, you can email - [email protected].

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Dr Tennyson Lee is a Consultant Psychiatrist in Psychotherapy and General Adult Psychiatry. He is a psychoanalyst and a member of the Institute of Psychoanalysis. He is a supervisor in Transference Focused Psychotherapy. He is presently clinical lead at the Dean Cross Personality Disorder Service in East London. He is Co-director of a research and training unit, the Centre for Understanding Personality (CUSP) which has a number of collaborations internationally, including with colleagues in China, Europe and South Africa.

Dr Lee trained in Public Health before training in psychiatry and has a particular interest in the broader application of psychoanalytic thinking both clinically and within health systems. He has over 40 peer reviewed papers.

You can find out more about the Dean Cross Personality Service Here:
https://www.elft.nhs.uk/services/deancross-personality-disorder-service

Some key papers if you'd like to learn more:
1. Managing the clinical encounter with patients with borderline personality disorder in a general psychiatry setting: key contributions from transference-focused psychotherapy - https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bjpsych-advances/article/managing-the-clinical-encounter-with-patients-with-borderline-personality-disorder-in-a-general-psychiatry-setting-key-contributions-from-transferencefocused-psychotherapy/1F82B0DAC1D4E5F46514E97FC681EE07#article

2. Managing the clinical encounter with patients with personality disorder in a general psychiatry setting: key contributions from neuropsychoanalysis -  https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bjpsych-advances/article/abs/managing-the-clinical-encounter-with-patients-with-personality-disorder-in-a-general-psychiatry-setting-key-contributions-from-neuropsychoanalysis/DADB9FC619A578D7ED1B7FA882F1FFC6

Interviewed by Dr. Anya Borissova - Give feedback here - [email protected] Follow us here: Twitter @thinkingmindpod Instagram @thinkingmindpodcast

If you would like to enquire about an online psychotherapy appointment with Dr. Alex, you can email - [email protected]

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This week we're taking a well deserved break, so if you're looking for something to listen to you can check out one of our recent episodes - including our recent interview with Dr. Roberto Mezzina about the Triste model of mental healthcare, our recent compherensive guide to ADHD or our recent Q and A episode where answered questions about topics like self-harm, addiction, delusional disorder and much more. 

We realy enjoyed doing the Q and A episode and we're collecting questions for the next one, so if you have any questions about psychiatry, psychology, self-development or related topics you can send them to [email protected]. 

In addition - we've started a tik tok page and we're posting content there regularly so if you're on tik tok you can follow us at thinking.mind.podcast.

Thanks for listening and see you next week!

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In this episode we discuss ADHD in depth, including the common signs and symptoms, how ADHD is diagnosed, the common risk factors and how ADHD symptoms can be managed both with and without medication. We also discuss whether or not ADHD is over diagnosed, whether ADHD being induced by our lifestyles, and common signs of impairment due to ADHD. 

Useful links:
https://www.additudemag.com/
https://adhduk.co.uk/
https://aadduk.org/

Dr. Alex Curmi is a consultant general adult psychiatrist with a sub-speciality in addictions who completed his training in the South London and Maudsley NHS foundation trust. He is also a UKCP registered training psychotherapist, and has a special interest in mindfulness meditation. 

Give feedback here - [email protected]  
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If you would like to enquire about an online psychotherapy appointment with Dr. Alex, you can email - [email protected]

SUPPORT THE PODCAST: buymeacoffee.com/thinkingmind

Give feedback here - [email protected] Follow us here: Twitter @thinkingmindpod Instagram @thinkingmindpodcast

Roberto Mezzina is an Italian psychiatrist and a prominent figure in the field of mental health, known for his leadership in promoting community-based mental health care and his role in advancing the principles of the Trieste Model. Mezzina has been a strong advocate for deinstitutionalization and the rights of people with mental health conditions, continuing the legacy of Franco Basaglia, the pioneer of the Trieste Model.

Throughout his career, Mezzina has worked to implement and expand the Trieste Model's humanistic and community-focused approach to mental health care, both in Italy and internationally. He has held key positions, including serving as the Director of the Department of Mental Health in Trieste. Under his leadership, Trieste became a global reference point for innovative mental health practices.

To learn more about the Trieste model go here:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/piis2215-0366(21)00252-2/fulltext

Interviewed by Dr. Alex Curmi, consultant psychiatrist. 

If you would like to enquire about an online psychotherapy appointment with Dr. Alex, you can email - [email protected].

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Today Alex answers listener questions on a variety of topics including self-harm, talking to complicated people, the function of dark humour, delusional disorder and benzodiazepene addiction.

If you would like to submit a question to a future ask me anything episode, email [email protected]. 

Audio-Essay by Dr. Alex Curmi. Dr. Curmi is a consultant general adult psychiatrist with a sub-speciality in addictions who completed his training in the South London and Maudsley NHS foundation trust. He is also a UKCP registered training psychotherapist, and has a special interest in mindfulness meditation. 

Give feedback here - [email protected]  
Follow us here: Twitter @thinkingmindpod Instagram @thinkingmindpodcast
Join Our Mailing List! - https://thinkingmindpod.aidaform.com/mailinglistsignup

If you would like to enquire about an online psychotherapy appointment with Dr. Alex, you can email - [email protected]

SUPPORT THE PODCAST: buymeacoffee.com/thinkingmind

Give feedback here - [email protected] Follow us here: Twitter @thinkingmindpod Instagram @thinkingmindpodcast