Grief, summer seasonal affective disorder, and anxiety in older people

Stockpiling possessions and collecting obsessively can tip into Hoarding Disorder, a condition recently recognised as a diagnosable mental health condition. Martin tells Claudia Hammond how his growing collection of cars, trucks and bikes awaiting "renovation" was growing out of control, and how a self help group for hoarders helped him to come to face up to his problem. NHS Clinical Psychologist Sophie Holmes describes the need for services to provide help and support for this often hidden group of people and tells Claudia about the success of the self help group set up with the Mary Francis Trust in Surrey in supporting those struggling with hoarding problems.The test for whether somebody is fit to plead and face a criminal Crown Court trial in England and Wales dates back almost 200 years, and it's universally accepted that these ancient rules are hopelessly out of date and need urgent reform. Many are concerned that people with serious mental illness and intellectual disabilities are finding themselves in the dock, when they're not fit to stand trial, creating a real risk of miscarriages of justice. The Law Commissioner is putting the finishing touches to a new Report and Draft Bill that will go before parliament next year and Ronnie Mackay, Professor of Criminal Policy and Mental Health at Leicester's De Montfort Law School in Leicester tells Claudia why the current law isn't fit for use in the 21st Century.Apps for smart phones and tablets that track our mood and our emotions is a growth area, but how many of the latest offerings are based on sound psychological principles, and could some do more harm than good? Clinical psychologist Lucy Maddox reviews a selection of these apps for All in the Mind (Headspace; Mindfulness in Schools; Mindshift; Dream:ON; Moodtracker; Thought Diary Pro; Mood Kit).Producer: Fiona Hill.

9 Joulu 201428min

Driving and distraction from mobile phones - a new study from Canada shows that if someone phoning a driver can see the driver's road ahead the driver is far less likely to have an accident. The programme explores why using mobile phones while driving, even if they are hands free is so distracting and dangerous. Claudia talks to Nick Grey about an intensive 7 day course for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He explains why it is just as effective as giving the same course of cognitive behavioural therapy over 3 months. But can this method work for everyone? Claudia finds out about two new potential drugs to treat symptoms of psychosis, one hopes to improve memory and thinking, the other could target the delusions and hallucinations and is based on compounds found in older varieties of cannabis. Also in the programme, guest Catherine Loveday from the University of Westminster discusses recent research on the effect of music on people in a vegetative state and why some professions may keep your memory more robust later in life.

2 Joulu 201427min

Home Secretary Theresa May says the UK is facing a terror threat "perhaps greater than it has ever been", and this week's anti-terrorism bill includes tighter airport security. But two psychology professors say current screening methods used at airports, where security agents check the behaviour of passengers for "suspicious signs", need an urgent upgrade. Professor Tom Ormerod from Sussex University and Coral Dando from the University of Wolverhampton, designed a new conversation-based screening method and when they tested it at international airports, including London Heathrow, they found it was 20 times more effective at catching airline passengers with false cover stories than the traditional "suspicious signs" method. Claudia Hammond asks them how the results from this study will affect airport security screening.If you have extremely suspicious thoughts, or you hear voices that other people can't hear, traditionally these are seen as signs of a serious mental illness such as schizophrenia. On Thursday this week a major new report from the British Psychological Society will call for a radical change in the way we think and offer help to people who are experiencing psychosis. Claudia Hammond discusses how our knowledge, attitudes and treatment of psychosis and schizophrenia have changed over the past decade with anti-stigma campaigner for Time to Change, Nikki Mattocks, author of "Eyebrows and Other Fish", Anthony Scally, consultant psychiatrist Dr Shubulade Smith and BPS Report Editor, clinical psychologist Anne Cooke.Thirty years ago psychologists found that if people were instructed to open their mouths in a smile, their mood improved...even though they didn't know they were smiling. When we feel happy, we smile, and the brain gets so used to this that it seems to happen the other way round too. Now new research suggests the same thing could happen when we walk. Johannes Michalak from Witten Herdecke University in Germany, found that when people were trained to walk in a happy style, their memories became more positive.Producer: Fiona Hill.

25 Marras 201428min

Claudia Hammond talks to Henrietta Bowden-Jones who runs the only NHS clinic for problem gamblers. Based in Central London it offers help to problem gamblers across the country. Treatment is mainly group based cognitive behavioural therapy. As many as 8 out of 10 patients, who are mostly men, have stopped gambling after 8 weeks of treatment at the clinic. But should more similar treatment centres be set up across the country for an addiction which often remains hidden? Also in the programme, Christian Jarrett joins Claudia to discuss why owls and larks could soon be joined by two new types of people based on how energetic they feel. Also, psychologist Stephen Reicher questions some of Stanley Milgram's conclusions about his infamous obedience experiments of the 1960s. And why if you're depressed you may find you lose your gut instinct.

18 Marras 201428min

"One in Four" has been a prominent slogan in campaigns to reduce stigma and discrimination against people with mental health problems. But Clinical Psychologist Martin Seager tells Claudia Hammond why he believes saying 'one in four' people will experience mental illness in any one year actually increases prejudice, artificially separating our mental health from our physical health. The Director of Time to Change, Sue Baker, disagrees, and argues that this statistical campaign tool has helped to normalise mental illness and played an important part in changing public attitudes.Humans vary in their ability to "keep a cool head" in emotionally charged situations, and difficulty to regulating emotions is linked to many psychiatric disorders. Dr Tim Dalgliesh from the Medical Research Council's Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit at the University of Cambridge tells Claudia about new research which suggests our brains could, with practice, be trained to focus on the goal at hand, and not get diverted by overwhelming emotions.TV dramas, plays and films can be ruined when scriptwriters get the science wrong. The Wellcome Trust's first ever screenwriting fellowship is an attempt to give film makers the chance to immerse themselves in science and explore their interests with the country's top scientific brains. Award winning film maker Clio Barnard (The Arbor and The Selfish Giant) has spent a year trawling the Wellcome archives and meeting psychologists, psychiatrists and neuroscientists investigating memory, perception, hallucination and the impact of trauma: all themes which recur in her movies.Producer: Fiona Hill.

11 Marras 201428min

Claudia explores pioneering new research into radicalisation. She talks to Professor Kamaldeep Bhui who is doing research to try and prevent radicalisation in the early stages. His idea is, if we can understand what makes someone sympathetic to violence and terrorist actions then radicalisation can be stopped before it starts. He explains why vulnerability to radicalisation is linked to depression. Also in the programme, 50 years after a murder which spawned a whole new area of psychology. Did 38 people really watch the murder of Kitty Genovese and no one call the Police or help her? Claudia talks to author, Kevin Cook and psychologist, Rachel Manning about the misreporting of the case yet its continuing legacy for psychology in understanding why people do or don't help others. Claudia talks to James Withey, creator of the Recovery Letters, a website of letters from people who have been depressed to help those who are now.

4 Marras 201428min

Claudia Hammond hosts the All in the Mind Awards Ceremony from the Wellcome Collection in London, and meets all the finalists.

24 Kesä 201427min

Claudia Hammond asks is autism underdiagnosed in girls? And this week's finalist in the All in the Mind awards is Dr Alan Barrett from Military Veterans.

17 Kesä 201427min