Ad Gridley was 18 when he had his first cannabis joint while on a gap year in Canada. He had no idea his choices then would – most likely – be the trigger for a 15-year unremitting, downward spiral that would see him diagnosed with schizophrenia and make multiple suicide attempts. He now lectures about his experiences and is the author of the book "The Geographer: The Descent into Madness". In addition Ad hosts two podcasts, Ad Gridleys Movie Sushi and Poetry Cafe. The link to his book and podcasts can be found on http://adgridley.com/.Interviewed by Dr Alex Curmi Give feedback here - thinkingmindpodcast@gmail.com  Follow us here: Twitter @thinkingmindpod Instagram @thinkingmindpodcastJoin Our Mailing List! - https://thinkingmindpod.aidaform.com/mailinglistsignupSUPPORT THE PODCAST: buymeacoffee.com/thinkingmind

Dr Pidkalyuk is a Ukrainian psychiatrist. Dr Pidkalyuk has worked as a psychiatrist since 2004, and with local government set up a centre for stress disorders in the local polyclinic. In 2021, Dr Pidkalyuk set up and with a team runs an NGO for stress disorders - ‘The Institute of Psychosomatics and Trauma-therapy’ in Khmelnytskyi in Ukraine. Since the full-scale invasion in February 2022, this has been supported by the Czech organisation ‘People in Need’. They provide consultations, support groups and treatment to people affected by trauma and experiencing stress disorders. After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Dr Pidkalyuk and the Institute have become a hub for many Ukrainians displaced by war from other parts of the country. This interview was possible thanks to translator Danny Dmytroshkyn. The clinic: https://www.facebook.com/105394482187302/posts/pfbid0UDJKkXdUr8fcNwauQLtoFBWbEBA9Y41VbwQvdy1a6ef5fwP4XMRdvyx5W1jLcsTql/. https://www.instagram.com/lifehub.khm/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3DGive feedback here - thinkingmindpodcast@gmail.com  Follow us here: Twitter @thinkingmindpod Instagram @thinkingmindpodcastSUPPORT THE PODCAST: buymeacoffee.com/thinkingmindJoin Our Mailing List! - https://thinkingmindpod.aidaform.com/mailinglistsignupIf you want to help the situtation in Ukraine, please donate here:https://www.ukrainianlondon.co.uk/donate-help-ukraine-trusted-charities-uk/

How can we define Psychological Growth?  Which traits define a mature person? Why is it hard to grow Psychologically? Why Should you do it Anyway?Audio-essay by Dr. Alex Curmi. Dr. Curmi is a specialist registrar in General Adult psychiatry in the South London and Maudsley NHS foundation trust with a special interest in psychotherapy and mindfulness meditation.Give feedback here - thinkingmindpodcast@gmail.com  Follow us here: Twitter @thinkingmindpod Instagram @thinkingmindpodcastJoin Our Mailing List! - https://thinkingmindpod.aidaform.com/mailinglistsignupSUPPORT THE PODCAST: buymeacoffee.com/thinkingmind

Dr Asad Rajput is a FY1 doctor who suffered with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder from a young age. In this episode Rebecca and Asad discuss what it's like to live with OCD, how religion and culture impacted Asad's OCD and how he recovered. Interviewed by Dr Rebecca Wilkinson  Give feedback here - thinkingmindpodcast@gmail.com -  Follow us here: Twitter @thinkingmindpod Instagram @thinkingmindpodcastJoin Our Mailing List! - https://thinkingmindpod.aidaform.com/mailinglistsignupSUPPORT: buymeacoffee.com/thinkingmind

Dr. Robert Glover is an author, psychotherapist and speaker. He is the author of bestselling men's self help book: No More Mr. Nice Guy.  Dr. Glover has devoted his career as a psychotherapist to freeing men from what he was dubbed the "Nice Guy Syndrome": trying too hard to please others while neglecting their own needs, thus causing unhappiness and resentfulness.In this episode we discuss: - The problems with the "Nice Guy" archetype - The meaning of real kindness - The path to integrating aggression into your life - How to date in 2022 - The problem with dating apps - The value of facing one's fearsInterviewed by Dr Alex CurmiGive feedback here - thinkingmindpodcast@gmail.com  Follow us here: Twitter @thinkingmindpod Instagram @thinkingmindpodcastSUPPORT THE PODCAST: buymeacoffee.com/thinkingmind

Professor Sir John Strang is a leading clinical academic. He is head of the Addictions Department at King’s College London and a Consultant Psychiatrist in addictions treatment for over 30 years.He is one of a small number of senior addictions researchers outside North America identified by ISI (the Institute for Scientific Analysis) as a “Highly Cited Author” with a rate of citation in the “top one half of one percent of all publishing researchers in the last two decades”. He developed and continues to expand the work on Take-Home Naloxone, a life-saving innovation for reducing opiate overdose deaths. We discuss how addiction and substance use disorders are defined and what might cause someone to develop them. We talk about what can make substance use disorders difficult to treat. We talk about the opioid epidemic and pick Prof Strang’s brains on what the reasons for the differences between the UK and USA is. We discuss take home naloxone and treatment for opiate dependence and consider broader issues such as what the aims of treatment might be/should be.We are so grateful to all the listeners who sent questions in - we didn’t get to cover all of them this time, but look out for future episodes!Interviewed by  Dr. Anya Borissova Give feedback here - thinkingmindpodcast@gmail.com  Follow us here: Twitter @thinkingmindpod Instagram @thinkingmindpodcastSUPPORT THE PODCAST: buymeacoffee.com/thinkingmind

Prof David Veale is a Consultant Psychiatrist and leads a national outpatient and residential unit service for people with severe treatment refractory Obsessive -Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) and anxiety disorders at the South London and Maudsley Trust. Dr David Veale specialises in obsessive compulsive disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, health anxiety, emetophobia and depression. He is a Visiting Professor in Cognitive Behaviour Therapies at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London.Interviewed by Dr Alex Curmi - Give feedback here - podcast@maudsleylearning.com -  Follow us here: Twitter @maudsleypodcast Instagram @maudsleylearningpodcastGive feedback here - thinkingmindpodcast@gmail.com  Follow us here: Twitter @thinkingmindpod Instagram @thinkingmindpodcastSUPPORT THE PODCAST: buymeacoffee.com/thinkingmind

Dr Roberts is an addiction psychiatrist and research fellow working in South London, working with people with addiction to substances as well as addictive behaviours, like gambling. He conducts research looking at the impact of policy changes on patients, such as their ability to access healthcare services. He was the clinical lead for the Homeless Hotel Drug and Alcohol Service (HDAS) in London - the first such service covering all of London, during the Covid-19 pandemic. He has recently been awarded a 5 year fellowship developing interventions to improve care for people with drug use, and another fellowship in health policy. In this episode, we discuss drug consumption rooms, reasons for why the UK has had the highest drug-related deaths on record in the last year, and how policy and services could be different in order to address this.These are some of the reports mentioned in the episode:Lessons Learned from the Pan-London Homeless Hotel Drug & Alcohol Support Service (HDAS) https://osf.io/7cdbx/Three qualitative reports from KCL reporting on the “Experiences Of Being Housed In A London Hotel As Part Of The ‘Everyone In’ Initiative” https://osf.io/rt7j9/  Interviewed by  Dr. Anya Borissova Give feedback here - thinkingmindpodcast@gmail.com  Follow us here: Twitter @thinkingmindpod Instagram @thinkingmindpodcastSUPPORT THE PODCAST: buymeacoffee.com/thinkingmind

Dr Alex George is a medical NHS doctor. He is well known for featuring on Love Island in 2018. Following the show, Alex has become a leading voice in mental health, and uses his platform to make health and medicine more accessible to millennials and beyond. Dr Alex is the UK Governments first Youth Mental Health Ambassador. Dr Alex has launched a campaign requesting the UK Government prioritise mental health amongst children and adolescents. He has also written a book ‘Live Well Every day’ with the intention of helping people achieve their best health and lifelong wellbeing.Among many other topics we discuss:- The psychological impact of fame and social media- Common sense strategies for managing mental health problems- The importance of discovering your values- Mental health problems among minority populations- Learning from Failure Interviewed by Dr. Alex Curmi with Dr. Rebecca Wilkinson and Dr. Anya Borissova  Give feedback here - thinkingmindpodcast@gmail.com  Follow us here: Twitter @thinkingmindpod Instagram @thinkingmindpodcastSUPPORT THE PODCAST: buymeacoffee.com/thinkingmind

What are some of the useful things to know about the experience of anxiety and depression? Can psychoeducation be helpful? What are ruminations and why might it be useful to take time to acknowledge what thoughts pass through your mind? What are some self-help steps you can take? Alongside my experience working as a psychiatry trainee and the clinicians I've learnt from, these are some books that I think can be helpful: 10 steps to positive living – a very short, easy to read, overview of some core thinking missteps that we all make that can contribute to unhappinessSchool of Life – a somewhat more philosophical exploration of life lessons The Chimp Paradox – a practical, metaphor and exercise based self-exploration  tool . Finally, I mentioned some studies that I read in preparing for this, here they are (feel free to get in touch if you'd like the PDFs): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30738219/ ; https://www.eif.org.uk/report/adolescent-mental-health-a-systematic-review-on-the-effectiveness-of-school-based-interventionsAudio-essay by   Dr. Anya Borissova. Dr Borissova is an academic core trainee psychiatrist in the South London and Maudsley NHS foundation trust with a special interest in psychotherapy and researching improvements in treating depression.Give feedback here - thinkingmindpodcast@gmail.com  Follow us here: Twitter @thinkingmindpod Instagram @thinkingmindpodcastSUPPORT THE PODCAST: buymeacoffee.com/thinkingmind