All in the Mind

New research shows that we are more envious of someone else's covetable experience before it happens than after it has passed. Non-Disclosure Agreements can be used to prevent employees discussing allegations of misbehaviour in the workplace with friends, family and even a therapist. But what is the impact of this silence? Claudia Hammond talks to psychologist Nina Burrowes about the effect of not talking about abusive behaviour and Zelda Perkins shares her experience of signing an NDA and the impact it had on her mental health. Leonardo da Vinci produced some masterpieces but historical accounts show he struggled to complete his works - did da Vinci have ADHD? Claudia visits The Listening Place – a small charity that provides support for anyone who, for whatever reason feels that life is no longer worth living. Visitors are able to speak to the same trained volunteer for an hour every fortnight. Claudia talks to Jon who first visited the charity 18 months ago when he was in desperate need of support. She meets volunteer Lucy who supported Jon during his time at The Listening Place. Also, new research that suggests that even those whose lives don't revolve around logic and numbers can have an appreciation for mathematical "beauty".The studio guest is Professor Catherine Loveday from the University of Westminster. Producer: Caroline Steel

Universities globally are increasingly being asked by students for trigger warnings on course material that could cause distress and the universities are responding. But what is the evidence they work? All in the Mind talks to Mevagh Sanson, one of the psychologists who has done the first empirical research to find out. The conclusion is – they don’t. She talks to Claudia about the research and its implications. Also, there are many myths about Vincent van Gogh and his mental health. His creative genius has been linked to his struggles with his mental health but as curator at Tate Britain, Carol Jacobi explains he only experienced episodes of mental illness in the last 18 months of his life and far from being a symptom of his illness, he painted in order to stay well. Claudia and Carol discuss why some of the myths about Vincent Van Gogh, his incredible genius and his mental health still persist today. Mathijs Lucassen from the Open University joins Claudia to discuss the government's select committee enquiry into reality TV.

Claudia visits Café Conversations – a weekly meet up in West London for people who are feeling lonely. The café group was organised by Louise Kay who felt lonely after her husband was diagnosed with Parkinson’s and wants to help people in the same position. The dark triad, a term coined by psychology researchers, is a group of three personality traits: narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy. Claudia speaks to Professor Scott Kauffman from Columbia University; he has decided enough focus has been given to dark personality traits so he created a light triad: faith in humanity, treating people as ends unto themselves and humanism. He explains how we all have light and dark traits within us and also how to find out how light or dark your own personality might be. Artist Chuck Mullin explains how and why she conveys her anxiety and depression through drawing cartoon pigeons. Also, listeners who have shared their experiences of aphantasia and spatial navigation.Producer: Caroline Steel

Remember that dress? In All in the mind recorded in front of an audience at the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead, Claudia Hammond delves into the psychology and neuroscience of our visual experience. How do we know we all see the same colours? And why do adults look away from other people’s faces when they’re trying to concentrate? We hear from the visual neuroscientist trying to work out exactly what we all see when we look at colours and from the psychologist training the police and teachers that it’s ok if people look away when they talk to you. It doesn’t mean they’re lying. It could mean they’re concentrating.Producer: Caroline Steel

Claudia talks to Catherine Loveday about her new research trying to find out why some people have difficulty navigating and what strategies might help. Madeleine Finlay reports from the 'Extreme Imagination' conference at Exeter University about people with aphantasia who have no mind's eye - who can't visualise friends, family, objects or anything. She meets people with the condition and the researchers trying to understand it. And the musical all about depression, 'A Super happy story about feeling Super sad'. How to make the experience of depression into an uplifting musical. Catherine Loveday tells Claudia about new research looking into why people with depression seek out sad music and explains that, contrary to the idea that it maintains low mood, people with depression find it calming and even empathetic.

When ex-footballer Clarke Carlisle went missing in 2017 his wife Carrie thought the worst: he had severe depression and had already attempted to take his own life. Found safely in Liverpool, he then spent weeks in a psychiatric hospital and 18 months in therapy. Clarke’s whole sense of identity was tied up with football and the buzz it gave him. So a knee injury at 21 made him feel like a failure and pushed him towards destructive behaviours with alcohol and marathon computer game sessions. Carrie responds to the question sometimes asked by well-meaning people: How could he put you through this?. “Clarke didn’t put me through anything. This illness [severe depression] invades and puts all of you through it collectively.” The Carlisles share their tips for recovery: asking for professional help; talking openly to their children about feelings; their daily marks-out-of-ten check in; how much the Pixar film Inside Out taught them about emotional resilience.

Claudia busts some myths in neuroscience. She meets scientists attending the British Neuroscience Association's Christmas symposium on Neuromyths. She talks to Professor Chris MacManus about myths around left and right and how we use the different sides of our brain. She discusses with Duncan Astle from Cambridge University about the brain myths that have been used in education in primary schools. Cordelia Fine from Melbourne University discusses the myths about the differences between male and female brains. Anne Cook from the BNA talks about some historical myths which have been busted but why others still persist. Emma Yhnell from Cardiff University talks about whether brain training really works.

A year ago a community organisation in Tyne and Wear called Citizens UK brought together people from schools, mosques, churches, politicians and the NHS to address mental health issues in their area. Claudia Hammond revisits the scheme a year on, to examine how a wide variety of local improvements now appear imminent. It follows months of hearing hundreds of personal testimonies and winning commitment from decision makers and those in power, to pledge to take action.What can those of us who would never dream of doing stand-up learn about human nature from comedians? Comedian Robin Ince who of course co-presents The Infinite Monkey Cage here on Radio 4 has written a book all about this called I'm a Joke and So Are You. He discusses the value his audiences get from him openly discussing anxieties on stage......If you're a fan of old films you might well have noticed that they were cut together with much longer shots than we tend to see these days - with an average change of image every ten seconds in the 1930s and 40s to just four seconds currently. Celia Andreu Sanchez from the Autonomous University of Barcelona has looked closely at impact this has on the way we pay attention to movies, with surprising results.Psychologist Prof. Catherine Loveday of the University of Westminster is this week’s studio guest.

What is self-care and what's the evidence that it works for anxiety and depression in young people? Claudia talks to Professor in Evidence Based Practice and Research at UCL, Miranda Wolpert and Maggy Van Eijk, author of Remember this when you're sad - Lessons learned on the road from self-harm to self-care. They discuss how useful is self-care and what are the kinds of strategies that work. Liam Hill from the University of Leeds explains why mathematical ability might relate to ball catching skills and his work with pupils at a primary school in Bradford. Claudia discusses schadenfreude with historian of emotions, Tiffany Watt-Smith and psychologist, Wilco Van Dijk from the University of Leiden.

Antidepressants are a helpful treatment for many, but some people do have problems when they stop taking them. A recent review of the evidence about antidepressant withdrawal symptoms found more people may experience them for longer than previously thought, and many people describe these symptoms as severe. But the study has come in for some criticism over data analysed and the fact that withdrawal symptoms also may vary by antidepressant type. So what does this mean in practice? Claudia Hammond is joined by the survey’s author John Read, Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of East London, and by Dr Sameer Jauhar, Senior Research Fellow, King’s College London.Poor mental health in the construction industry is ‘the silent epidemic’, reporting more suicides than any other profession. Greater mental health support for construction workers is now identified as a priority area. Claudia Hammond examines Mates in Mind, a new initiative to improve mental health in the sector by increasing awareness and the confidence amongst its predominantly male workforce to openly discuss the issues.And do eye movements reveal more about our personality than previously thought? Claudia Hammond speaks to Sabrine Hoppe from the University of Stuttgart who carried out the first real world study that appears to find a relationship between our changing eye movements with our distinct character traits.Studio guest is Dr Mathijs Lucasson from the Open University