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Ruby Wax on how to manage your mind; the neuroscience of stress, anxiety and depression

Jenni Murray presents the programme offering a female perspective on the world, featuring the neuroscience of anxiety, Ruby Wax on ways to manage our minds, and workplace stress.

It's a rare person who hasn't experienced low mood, feelings of anxiety but for many of us it will become more than just the odd bad day or evening. Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide and women are more likely to be affected by depression and anxiety than men.

In a new series, Staying Sane: Healthy Minds in a Mad World, we'll be talking to innovative thinkers on how best to keep our minds healthy. But first in a special programme we look more closely at what happens when the mind plays up.

Dusana Dorjee is a cognitive neuroscientist at the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice at Bangor University and author of Mind, Brain and the Path to Happiness. She talks about the latest neurological research into how stress affects the brain and the mind.

Thanks to advance in neuroscience, we now understand far more about how the pressures in today's world can impact upon our minds. So just how mad is our world? Ruby Wax and Madeleine Bunting join Jenni in the studio.

Nearly half a million people in the UK believe that they have work-related stress at a level that is making them ill. Jenni speaks to Sarah Mitchell who suffered repeated panic attacks at work and to occupational therapist Dr Almuth McDowall about why so many of us are suffering in silence.

Supporting a partner who has mental health issues can be a real challenge. We hear from Phil whose partner Cathy spent years in hospital battling psychotic depression and Kate whose partner Glen is still battling with his problems.

What to do if you're concerned about the state of mind of someone close to you? Dr Rina Dutta, consultant psychiatrist at King's College London talks about noticing changes that could point to mental illness.

Available now

58 minutes

Chapters

  • The Neuroscience of Depression and Anxiety

    Duration: 05:16

  • Staying Sane: Healthy Minds in a Mad World

    Duration: 09:52

  • Workplace stress

    Duration: 07:28

  • Mental Health - Supporting a Partner

    Duration: 09:38

  • When someone needs help

    Duration: 06:08

The Neuroscience of Depression and Anxiety

Dusana Dorjee is a cognitive neuroscientist at the at Bangor University and author of Mind, Brain and the Path to Happiness. ÌýShe joins Jenni Murray to talk about the latest neurological research into how stress affects the brain and the mind.

Ìý

Staying Sane: Healthy Minds in a Mad World

Thanks to advances in neuroscience, we now understand far more about how pressures in today’s world can impact upon our minds.Ìý Ruby Wax knows better than most, having journeyed through deep depression to obtaining an MA from Oxford in . So just how mad is our world? And what are the ways to manage it when it comes to our mental health?Ìý Ruby Wax andÌýwriter Madeleine Bunting join Jenni to discuss.

Ìý

Sane New World, Taming the Mind by Ruby Wax is published by Hodder.

Workplace stress

Nearly half a million people in the UK believe that they have work-related stress at a level that is making them ill.Ìý Undue pressures and demands at work because of workload, deadlines, the environment you work in or your colleagues can lead to critical levels of stress. And yet work-related stress is the elephant in the room in many workplaces. The charitybelieves that stressed workers are suffering in silence and employers aren’t doing enough to tackle stress. A third of workers polled by the charity said that they would not be able to talk openly to their line manager if they felt stressed.Ìý

From casual conversations, to psychological support, knowing how to deal with the everyday strains of your job is important. Jenni speaks to Sarah Mitchell who suffered repeated panic attacks at work and to occupational therapist Dr Almuth McDowell about why so many of us are suffering in silence.

Mental Health - Supporting a Partner

Supporting a partner who has mental health issues can be a real challenge.ÌýÌýWe hear from Phil Wield whose partner Cathy spent years in hospital battling psychotic depression and Kate whose partner Glen is still battling with his problems. What’s it like living day to day with someone who isÌýdepressed - trying to juggle work, life and kidsÌýwhile remaining positive?Ìý They’ll tell Jenni Murray aboutÌý the strain it can put on a relationship,Ìý what’s helped them cope and how you can come out the other side.

When someone needs help

If you’re concerned about the state of mind of someone close to you, what are the signs that could identify someone experiencing clinical depression rather than a low mood, or unhappiness? What should you do to support them, and what are your options if someone won’t acknowledge they need help? Dr Rina Dutta is a consultant psychiatrist and academic at , and will join Jenni Murray to talk about noticing changes that could point to mental illness.

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Jenni Murray
Interviewed Guest Dusana Dorjee
Interviewed Guest Ruby Wax
Interviewed Guest Madeleine Bunting
Interviewed Guest Sarah Mitchell
Interviewed Guest Almuth McDowall
Interviewed Guest Rina Dutta

Broadcast

  • Mon 9 Jun 2014 10:00

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