All in the Mind

Back in 2020 at height of pandemic lockdown the “ Social Study” a longitudinal study began looking at the psychological and social impact of the pandemic involving over 95,000 UK adults. What started as a 12 week study has now been running for 2 years. So now, as we’re emerging from restrictions of the pandemic, epidemiologist Daisy Fancourt of University College London discusses the post -pandemic’s impact on our mental health.Do you find yourself keep getting lost? Many factors influence our ability to navigate but the environment we grow up in is often overlooked. Could living in the city compared to the countryside help or hinder our sense of direction? Claudia hears from Professor Hugo Spiers whose major new study across 40 countries reveals people who grew up in rural or suburban areas have better spatial navigation skills than those raised in cities, particularly cities with grid-pattern streets. Good conversation can be one of life’s most enjoyable experiences, but we are surprisingly bad at judging how well conversations could go with a stranger. Mike Kardas of North Western university has attempted to examine the time course of enjoyment after getting 1000 participants to strike up a conversation with a stranger. Surprisingly we don’t run out of things to say. but how deep can a conversation go?Claudia Hammond’s studio guest is Professor of health psychology Daryl O’Connor from the University of LeedsProducer Adrian Washbourne Made in Partnership with The Open University

Claudia Hammond reports on a trend which has emerged from the world-famous Chelsea Flower Show this year - a growing number of gardens designed with mental health in mind. So what is it about gardens and nature which makes us feel better? The Mothers for Mothers "This Too Shall Pass" garden is designed by Polly Wilkinson - a former counsellor who's worked with adolescents and new mothers with anxiety and depression. The charity's CEO Maria Viner wanted to reflect the joys and pain of motherhood - so Polly constructed a pathway with a crack in it - which narrows and is almost "fixed", echoing the impact that peer support can bring. The lifting of low mood is also seen as muted green and blue flowers give way to apricots and pinks. Sue Stuart- Smith is a psychiatrist, psychologist and now author of the bestselling book The Well Gardened Mind. She says it's hard to untangle the factors which might be contributing to the impact of nature on us. Dr Stuart-Smith explains how a study in the British Medical Journal found 8,000 studies on the impact of nature - but just 8 were randomised controlled trials. where people are randomly allocated gardening or another activity - so more research is needed. The mental health charity Mind has its first ever garden at Chelsea this year which will be relocated in Barrow-in-Furness once the show is over. We hear from Alice - who had an eating disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder from an early age - and Faris, who has post-traumatic stress disorder, and sought asylum in the UK after he was orphaned in the conflict in Sudan. They say that growing vegetables and caring for bonsai plants has helped to relieve their symptoms. The Place2Be garden will also be relocated at the end of the flower show - to Viking School in Northolt, west London. For the last 15 years the children there have been able to get support from the charity's school-based counsellor Miss Angela. CEO Catherine Roche says the garden will provide a safe space so the pupils relax during a busy day. The children helped to design the garden's oak benches with gardener Jamie Butterworth. He says having a mum who's a teacher and a dad who's a mental health nurse made the Place2Be the perfect match for him.Made in Partnership with The Open University

Instagram is awash with people sharing dream homes, holidays, partners and jobs which they claim to have 'manifested' into being. Proponants of manifestation say that thinking positive thoughts attracts tangible positive things into your life. They believe that 'asking the universe' for what you want via journaling, mood boards, and mantras can have a powerful real-world impact. Hayley Sparkes is a successful TV presenter and model but when the pandemic started she found herself with no work or income and turned to manifestation to try to improve her situation. Now she credits manifestation with bringing her a dream partner, home, and job, and all in under a year. Claudia Hammond and her studio guest David Robson ask whether there is any research evidence that manifestation really can change your life.Last week a passenger in Florida landed a place safely after the pilot become unresponsive. Do you think you could do the same thing in an emergency? Researchers in New Zealand found that people are surprisingly confident about their ability to fly a plane with no training. Claudia talks to one of the researchers, Kayla Jordan from the University of Waikato.Finally, new research showing a radio soap opera in Burkina Faso changed attitudes towards violent insurgency. Psychologist Rezarta Bilali from New York University talks to Claudia about the power of radio to change minds.Producer: Lorna StewartAir Traffic Control Source: Liveatc.net

What role can psychologist play in supporting the mental health of displaced Ukrainians? Millions of people have had to flee either abroad or to other parts of the country and the implications for mental health are huge – not only in terms of trauma but for those who’ve escaped, the constant anxiety of watching what’s happening back home and worrying about loved ones. Claudia talks to Emily Holmes, Professor of Clinical Neuroscience at Uppsala University, and Clinical Psychologist Professor Marit Sijbrandij of Vue University Amsterdam who have been working to ensure the interventions with the best evidence behind them get used.And we pay a visit to the Dreamachine, an immersive sound and light installation that uses the power of flickering white light to create psychedelic experiences. Will it open a new window into how our brains make sense of the world? We hear from two scientists behind the project - Anil Seth Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience, University of Sussex and Fiona MacPherson Professor of Philosophy, University of GlasgowClaudia Hammond’s studio guest is Professor of Health Psychology Daryl O’Connor of Leeds University, armed with new research into how deliberately seeking out discomfort can help drive our personal growthProducer Adrian Washbourne

Many of us tend to dismiss dreams as merely the churning of the brain— but for much of human history, dreams were taken very seriously. Claudia Hammond speaks to Brazilian neuroscientist Sidarta Ribeiro who in his new wide ranging book The Oracle of Night wants to recapture that seriousness of dreams and the science of dreaming, drawing upon on his extensive career researching everything from sleep and memory to psychedelic drugs.As brain scans have become more detailed in recent decades, MRI or magnetic resonance imaging - has revealed correlations between brain anatomy or function and illness, that have suggested new ways to diagnose and treat psychiatric, psychological and neurological conditions. But why has the promise been so slow to turn into reality? Claudia Hammond is joined by Sophie Scott, Director of the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and also by neuroscientist Scott Marek of Washington University in St Louis. His new research offers some insights into why. Good listening is truly hearing what the other person has to say without putting your own layer of experience on top of it. But who’s best at it – extroverts or introverts? Today’s studio guest, Prof.Catherine Loveday of the University of Westminster weighs up the latest evidence.Producer Adrian Washbourne

When a child is suffering from mental health problems it feels natural for a parent to feel sad and anxious. But when Ursula Saunders' son refused to go to secondary school her life was turned upside down: his problems dominated family life, she gave up work and couldn't stop crying. She searched online for support but it all seemed to be directed at children, with nothing on offer for parents. So she sought advice from two psychologist friends Professor Roz Shafran and Dr Alice Welham. After speaking to dozens of other parents about what helped them, they co-wrote How To Cope When Your Child Can't - a collection of experiences and information from psychological research. We hear from Ursula and Roz about their top tips for parents like problem solving, self-compassion and creating boundaries. Roz Shafran offers advice to families waiting for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, which have been under particular strain during the Covid pandemic. We also hear from Lily who got support from youth worker Jo at Rise Youth Empowerment in south London when she was struggling with overwhelming anxiety. Lily had already had contact with mental health services but she found that the less formal approach from Rise helped to build up trust and gave her the confidence to make her way back into education. She’s now in the second year of a degree course, has her own flat and is engaged. Jo says that they want to help young people to become resilient – encouraging them to make calls themselves to housing or healthcare professionals rather than doing it for them. Lily says she now feels able to gives back to Rise by presenting workshops for other young people. And there’s news of a study in a German school – where surprisingly few pupils opted for a later start to their day, offered to see if it helped to boost the amount of sleep they got.

In the final part of the Anatomy of Kindness, Claudia Hammond and guests ask 'Can Bosses be Kind'? Using evidence from the Kindness Test, the world's largest psychological study into kindness, Claudia starts her quest with Thom Elliot Co-founder of Pizza Pilgrims, who deliberately set out to foster a kind culture in a sector not exactly known for its benevolence. They're joined for pizza by Prof Robin Banerjee, architect of the Kindness Test to discuss the findings and examine whether kindness in business really does result in success. Joe Folkman is the perfect person to ask. He runs an evidence based leadership development firm and produced a fascinating study "I'm a boss why should I care if you like me"? It turns out there's a strong correlation between being likeable and effectiveness. Such concepts are backed up by a relatively new field of research called 'ethical leadership' pioneered by Professor Mike Brown. But 60,000 people who took part in the Kindness Test revealed time pressures as one of the barriers to being kind, so how easy is it to be a kind leader on a day to day basis? Claudia meets former head teacher Ros McMullen who tells some home truths about leadership in a culture of relentless pressure and accountability. Plus Lisa Smosarski, editor in Chief of Stylist magazine shares shocking office stories of the 'Devil Wears Prada' era and discusses wider societal shifts that may be contributing to a kinder culture in her industry. And Claudia's fellow science presenters, Robin Ince, Hannah Fry and Marnie Chesterton recall some old bad boss stories of their own.Producer, Erika Wright

In the Anatomy of Kindness Claudia Hammond asks who we are kind to. Professor Nichola Raihani from University College London says there are circles of connections, so family and friends, work colleagues, neighbours continuing out to everyone on the planet. Different people will put their boundaries in different places. One of the mechanisms we have to move these boundaries is empathy says Sara Konrath associate professor at the Lily Family School of Philanthropy. And being able to elicit empathy in strangers is an important part of raising awareness of challenging issues according to Lyndall Stein who has raised money for HIV, refugees and the homeless. But how do we expand who us is, (whatever that means)? Sunder Katwaler of the think tank British Future says that in part its about making connections, which is something Gillian Sandstrom from the University of Sussex studies would agree with. She studies talking to strangers and why that is beneficial.Presenter Claudia Hammond Producer Geraldine Fitzgerald Sound Engineer Sarah Hockley Sound Designer Eleni Hassabis

In the Anatomy of Kindness, a three part documentary series, broadcaster, author and psychologist Claudia Hammond interrogates what it means to be kind, who we are kind to and the benefits of being a kind boss.For the first of the three programmes Claudia examines our motivations and decision making around kindness. She meets a super altruist who risked his life for a stranger, his motivation, he says, is to make the world a better place. A car accident left neuroscientist Professor Abigail Moore stranded on the outside lane of an American freeway facing the oncoming traffic. In a split second a stranger made the decision to run into the oncoming traffic and save her, without thinking of the danger. This act of heroism shaped Abigail’s research. She looks at such extreme altruists and her work explores the relationship between psychopathy and extraordinary altruism.Professor of Philanthropy Sara Konrath was surprised to discover that narcissists are just as likely to give to charity as very empathic people, but a remarkable act of empathy was her inspiration to research this topic and we discover what she owes to a very kind person who entered her life at a pivotal time.But what about the everyday acts of kindness? Can we ever say we do something for someone else without expecting something in return? Psychologist Jo Cutler says that we weigh up the effort to do something for someone else every time we act, even when it’s as simple as holding the door open. Nichola Raihani, Professor of Evolution and Behaviour and author of "The Social Instinct, how cooperation saved the world" thinks we've evolved to be altruistic, it’s the reason why we have been so successful as a species and altruism brings reputational and status benefits. But how cynically do we act when we are kind?Claudia examines the evidence and decides whether you can ever carry out an act of pure kindness.

Claudia Hammond and guests announce the results of the biggest ever public science project on Kindness. With over sixty thousand participants from across the world this unique work helps to fill some of the research gaps and learn more about how kindness is viewed within society at large. Led by a team of researchers based at the University of Sussex, in partnership with BBC Radio 4, Claudia is joined on stage at the BBC Radio Theatre by Professor Robin Bannerjee who has been crunching the data. Together with poet Raymond Antrobus, Stylist magazine editor in chief Lisa Smosarski , comedian Elvis McGonagall and clinical ethicist Professor Deborah Bowman they unpick what the results tell us about how experiences of kindness might relate to health, well-being, and other social and psychological aspects integral to human nature. 2Status: