logo
episode-header-image
Nov 11
28m 8s

Are mental health classes in schools wor...

Bbc Radio 4
About this episode

It is now compulsory for schools across the UK to teach children about mental health and wellbeing. Whilst it might seem like classes for everyone on these topics might be helpful, a new study has found that in some cases, they may actually be worsening mental health problems. How could this be? Claudia Hammond is joined by Dr Lucy Foulkes to discuss the possible reasons why.

Listener Paul got in touch to ask why some drivers get road rage. What is it about being in a car that makes people see red? On hand to answer is traffic psychologist Professor Dwight Hennessy, who has been studying the phenomenon for years.

And Claudia is joined in the studio by Catherine Loveday, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Westminster. Catherine brings us new research looking at how we remember emotional memories and why musicians show a higher resistance to pain. Plus, we reflect on some of your feedback on hoarding disorder.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Sophie Ormiston Editor: Ilan Goodman Studio Manager: Donald MacDonald Production coordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

Up next
Nov 18
Asylum hotels and mental health
<p>More than 32,000 asylum seekers are being housed in hotels in the UK, the latest figures show.</p><p>There's been intense political debate in recent weeks focused on the cost – both financially for the government and for local communities. </p><p>But what about the cost to the ... Show More
28m 14s
Nov 4
Should we be using trigger warnings?
This programme may contain information that you might find to be evidence-based and informative... Trigger warnings are everywhere. They’re used in the news, on social media and in academia to flag potentially distressing material so we can emotionally prepare ourselves or avoid ... Show More
28m 23s
Oct 28
Are there multiple subtypes of autism, and how vivid are your memories?
Autism tends to be viewed as a spectrum, but a new study published this month in Nature suggests that there are both genetic and behavioural differences between early and later diagnosed autism. So is autism still a spectrum, or should we be thinking of it as having multiple diff ... Show More
29m 55s
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2024
Rethinking mental health
In the US, police officers spend about a fifth of their time responding to mental health crises. This is something they are often not trained for, and figures also show that people with untreated mental illness are 16 times more likely to be killed during a police encounter.We go ... Show More
22m 59s
Sep 2024
Social Media: Is It Rotting Your Brain?
Social media. Many of us don’t feel very good when we’re on it, and yet we sometimes spend hours a day scrolling, eyeballs glued to our screens. Some experts say that social media is causing a mental health crisis, and governments are even talking about banning social media for k ... Show More
46m 36s
Jan 2025
‘Do I need to lead this lifestyle to succeed?’ The mental health crises that forced faculty members to change tack
Hilal Lashuel and Dave Reay join Michelle Kimple to talk about faculty mental health and why it is often overlooked.A heart attack in 2016 forced Lashuel, a neurogenerative diseases researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, to question success in scienc ... Show More
37m 7s
Oct 2024
Is Med School Impossible with a Serious Mental Illness?
[Content warning: this episode contains frank discussions of mental health and mentions suicide.] Getting your support systems in order is key to success in med school with a mental health diagnosis. In this episode listener Haley, who is considering medical school while managin ... Show More
1h 2m
Sep 4
Is curiosity the key to ageing well?
Psychologists have traditionally believed we become less curious as we age, but recent research has shown that curiosity actually becomes more targeted and specific in our later years. To find out why this happens, and how maintaining broad curiosity into older age can help keep ... Show More
16m 6s
Apr 2025
Feeling mentally exhausted? How to manage cognitive load and stay focused
<p>Feeling overwhelmed by work, life, and everything in between? Monica breaks down Cognitive Load Theory, a powerful framework that explains why your brain feels like it’s maxed out, and what to do about it. </p><p><a href="https://quickanddirtytips.com/savvy-psychologist">Savvy ... Show More
11m 10s
Apr 2025
Dementia: Your questions answered and lion's mane mushrooms in the lab
You sent in your questions on dementia and now we're tackling them. Professor Tara Spires-Jones, Director of the Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, joins James Gallagher to go through the insidehealth@bbc.co.uk mailbag.James also visits mushroom g ... Show More
28m 16s
Nov 12
Navigating the mental health impact of GLP-1s, with Rachel Goldman, PhD
Over the past several years, the rise of GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy has changed the conversation around weight and obesity in the U.S. Rachel Goldman, PhD, talks about how GLP-1s work; the effects they can have on mental health; what questions to ask if you’re conside ... Show More
37m 21s
Mar 2025
#101 Sleep, Mental Health, and OT with Amanda Carroll
<p>Nearly <a href='https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/education-and-awareness/sleep-health'>one third of people </a>experience sleep disturbances. </p><p>And, about <a href='https://www.nami.org/about-mental-illness/mental-health-by-the-numbers/'>23% of adults</a> experience ... Show More
1h 6m
Jan 2025
Mind matters: investigating academia’s ‘mental health crisis’
Why do so many academics struggle to ‘power down’ at the end of a long working day, and what are the longer-term health effects of failing to switch off at evenings and weekends?Desiree Dickerson is a clinical psychologist based in Valencia, Spain, who works with academic institu ... Show More
19m 31s