All in the Mind Folgen

The pen is mightier than the laptop when it comes to notetaking. Or so we used to think. Daryl O’Connor, Professor of Psychology at the University of Leeds, breaks the news to Claudia Hammond that one of her favourite studies showing writing notes rather than typing them is best, hasn’t been replicated. Apparently it’s how much you write – on a computer or on paper – that predicts success. There have been more than 1100 entries for the All in the Mind Awards and in the Professionals category, 30 year old Libby, who has an eating disorder, nominates her GP, Dr Celia Belk. They’re now finalists and they tell Claudia about their special doctor-patient relationship.It’s two weeks since the former Minneapolis police officer, a white man, Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murdering George Floyd, who was black. Millions around the world saw the distressing film of his killing but researchers in Utah in the US decided to measure, using big data, how much hearing about racist killings like this, affect the mental health of black Americans.Dr David Curtis tells Claudia that his team selected 49 high profile cases of either police killing black people, a failure to indict officers accused of such killings, or white supremacist murders. And the results show worsening mental health for black, not white, Americans in weeks where there are two or more of these high profile cases. And Daryl O’Connor also reports on another American study, this one from the emerging area of research into micro-aggressions – denigrating somebody because of their ethnicity by micro assaults, micro insults and micro invalidations. This research shows exposure to microaggressions is linked to worse PTSD symptoms.Produced in association with The Open UniversityProducer: Fiona Hill

Claudia Hammond talks to Professor Catherine Loveday of Westminster University about her new research on our memories during lockdown. Have our memories really got worse during the pandemic? And Claudia meets the first of the finalists in the All in the Mind Mental Health Awards 2021: we hear about StrongMen - a group set up to support men who have been bereaved. It was nominated by Adam Lee who suffered severe mental health issues following the unexpectedly loss of his daughter. The awards recognise the people and organisations that have gone above and beyond the call of duty to help you with your mental health. Radio 4 listeners nominated the unsung heroes and after a process of sifting through the entries, a judging panel of people with extensive experience of mental health has selected nine finalists, three from each category. And how come some people have found lockdown to be a positive experience. Is there anything those of us who've found it harder can learn from them?Producer: Adrian WashbourneProduced in association with The Open University

What is the best way of getting on with people at home and at work? Psychologists Emily and Laurence Alison have spent their careers working with the police as they build rapport with suspects, sometimes terrorism suspects or perpetrators of domestic violence. And their conclusions about how best to do it have lessons for the rest of us too. They discuss their new book, "Rapport: the four ways to read people". Claudia catches up with Helen who nominated a finalist in the group category of the 2018 All in the Mind Awards to find out what she’s been up to in the last two years.What can you do in middle age to protect your brain later on? Everyone’s brain changes as they get older, but some people maintain their cognitive health and others don’t. Rik Henson, Deputy Director of the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit at the University of Cambridge, has brought together studies using brain scans with research where people in their 80s are asked to look back on their lives to try to work out the impact middle age activity can have on preserving your faculties.Do we have everything to look forward to in our teens and then realise later what life can throw at us? Bill Chopik Assistant Professor of Psychology at Michigan State University, carried out the largest study of its kind to discover when optimism peaks, with surprising results.Claudia's studio guest is Catherine Loveday, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Westminster.Producer Adrian Washbourne