Is ‘are you ok?’ a good question and how your eyes give away memory precision
Are you ok? It’s a question that might be at the front of your mind during a traumatic event. But how helpful is it and can it even make matters worse? We answer a very intriguing listener question. And in the studio with Claudia is Catherine Loveday, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, who’s excited about a study that has uncovered a fascinating way of measuring just how precise our memory is. Clue: It’s all about the eyes. We also reveal the latest finalist in the All in the Mind awards. This week it's Dr Rajeev Kumar who was nominated by Holly Batyka-Berry for his support through Holly's experiences of severe postnatal depression.
The awards take place at the BBC Radio Theatre in London on 18 June and there is a ballot for free tickets which closes at midday on 31 May. You can enter online by going to www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/shows. If you’d like information on sources of support for post-natal depression do go to bbc.co.uk/actionline Presenter: Claudia Hammond
Producer: Gerry Holt and Hannah Fisher
Studio Manager: Bob Nettles
Production Coordintator: Siobhan Maguire
Content Editor: Glyn Tansley
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28:27
Adult ADHD: Why are waiting lists for diagnoses so long?
You’ve probably heard the term ADHD – or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder – more and more in recent years. Almost 200,000 of you are waiting for a diagnosis and services are struggling to keep up with the demand. Last year twenty four different services told BBC Verify that it would take them eight years to get to everyone on their waiting lists. Now the NHS in England is setting up a taskforce to look at ADHD diagnoses.In this special programme on Adult ADHD, Claudia Hammond and guests ask how did we get to this point, and what can be done to shorten the waiting lists and to make sure people get a timely diagnosis if they need one? Claudia's guests are: Robin Ince - stand-up comedian and science presenter who recently received his own diagnosis of ADHD as an adult; Dr Jessica Eccles - a psychiatrist who does assessments for ADHD and has ADHD herself; and Dr Suzanne O’Sullivan - a neurologist who says we should be more careful about who receives a diagnosis.Producer: Lorna Stewart
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28:11
How to help someone who doesn’t want help, and well-being benefits of holidays
A new series of All in the Mind kicks off with the first of the finalists in the All in the Mind Awards. Seven hundred of you entered the awards and our judging panel had the tricky task of choosing just nine finalists. The first of those is Rachel who was nominated by her husband Sam for all the support she offered him through his depression and psychosis. They tell Claudia Hammond their story.And in the studio with Claudia is Daryl O'Connor, Professor of Psychology at the University of Leeds. He's got research about a new approach to persuading people with psychosis to look for and accept psychological support. And Claudia speaks to psychotherapist Sophie Scott about how to persuade a loved one to get professional help when they don't want to.And finally, new research showing that the psychological benefits of a holiday last longer than you think - but only if you really do switch off from work. And you can make them last even longer by being active on holiday rather than flopping by the pool every day. Daryl and Claudia discuss.Presenter: Claudia Hammond,
Producer: Lorna Stewart
Studio Manager: Sue Maillot
Programme Coordintator: Siobhan Maguire
Content Editor: Holly Squire
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28:15
Future Thinking
In the second of two special holiday episodes Claudia Hammond and an expert panel of psychologists look to the future. A new year is upon us, a time when we often find ourselves reflecting on the year gone by and thinking about what comes next. Thinking about the future comes so naturally to most people that we don't realise what a complicated - and essential - skill it is. Catherine Loveday, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Westminster, explains how our ability to mentally time travel into the future is useful for everyday tasks as well as fundamental to shaping our identity.Daryl O’Connor, Professor of Psychology at the University of Leeds, discusses how thinking about the future motivates us in the present.And Peter Olusoga, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Sheffield Hallam University, describes how professional sportspeople use visualisation and future thinking to improve sporting success - and what the rest of us can learn from that.Together they discuss how we hold ideas of the future in mind, whether unbounded optimism is the best way ahead – or not, and how to science-proof our favourite future planning at this time of year - new year's resolutions.If you are suffering distress or despair and need support, including urgent support, a list of organisations that can help is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.Presenter: Claudia Hammond
Producer: Lorna Stewart
Content Editor: Holly Squire
Studio Manager: Emma Harth
Production Co-ordinators: Siobhan Maguire and Andrew Rhys Lewis
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29:41
The Psychology of Nostalgia
In the first of two special holiday episodes, Claudia Hammond and an expert panel of psychologists look back, nostalgically. At this festive time of year, you might be thinking wistfully about Christmas past – perhaps you’ll be rewatching old films, arguing over a game of Monopoly, or listening to Christmas music that drives you mad. Maybe you are looking back with rose-tinted spectacles on the Christmases gone by that seem somehow more magical than they are now. Or perhaps it’s hard to look back without feeling a tinge of sadness. Whether you fall on the more bitter or more sweet side of bittersweet, this is the bittersweet feeling of nostalgia. And it is particularly rife at this time of year.But nostalgia wasn't always just a feeling. Historian Agnes Arnold Forster tells Claudia and the panel that once it was viewed as a disease so deadly that it appeared on thousands of death certificates. And now this poignant emotion stirs political action, bonds us to others, and guides our very understanding of ourselves.Peter Olusoga, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Sheffield Hallam University, Daryl O’Connor, Professor of Psychology at the University of Leeds, and Catherine Loveday, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Westminster, join Claudia in the studio to discuss how leaning into nostalgia can help us feel better, reduce pain and even inject a bit of romance into life.Presenter: Claudia Hammond
Producer: Lorna Stewart
Content Editor: Holly Squire
Studio Manager: Emma Harth
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