All In The Mind

How do you know if you have health anxiety? For mental health nurse Sarah, she had real health concerns, but they were coupled with panic, spiralling worries and late nights googling her symptoms. So how can you tell if your concerns are causing more harm than good? Today, we're demystifying health anxiety. From the impact it has on individuals, to family and friends, to the flow on effects it can have on the medical system. And don't worry, there is good news - it is treatable, so we'll explore what to do if you're feeling overwhelmed by health anxiety. Guests: Sarah (pseudonym) Mental health nurse Professor Jill Newby Clinical psychologist University of New South Wales Black Dog Institute Credits: Presenter/producer: Sana Qadar Producer: Rose Kerr Senior producer: James Bullen Sound engineer: Isabella Tropiano More information/resources: CCI Health Anxiety This Way Up - Health Anxiety The Black Dog Institute is doing research on digital treatments for health anxiety. If you're interested in participating, you can find more information here.

Sally Gould was a couple of years into her dream job as a paramedic when it all started to fall apart. It wasn’t the trauma and injury she was exposed to on shifts that was getting to her. It was everything else - the hours, the nonsense callouts, the bullying. The experience would leave her isolated and thinking of suicide. But she found a way back. Today, an episode for those of you who fear you’re burning out - or have burnt out. We hear about the personality traits that put you at higher risk of burnout, how to protect yourself and getting back on the path back to good health. Guests: Sally Gould Paramedic; Author, Frog: The Secret Diary of a Paramedic Gordon Parker Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales Credits: Presenter: Sana Qadar Senior Producer: James Bullen Producer: Rose Kerr Sound Engineer: Tegan Nicholls More info: Frog: The Secret Diary of a Paramedic (Simon & Schuster). Burnout: A Guide to Identifying Burnout and Pathways to Recovery (Allen & Unwin). Defining burnout: What is this syndrome and what sets it apart from other labels? (RACGP). To explore more great episodes from the award-winning psychology podcast All in the Mind with host Sana Qadar, download the ABC Listen app (Australia) or search 'ABC All in the Mind podcast' wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find more episodes on mental health, trauma, attachment theory, wellness hacks, and family relationships. You'll also hear interviews with experts like Esther Perel, Billy Garvey and Ethan Kross. All in the Mind is created for ABC's Radio National by specialist journalists and reporters at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Meditation sickness, meditation-related adverse effects or meditators in distress – you probably haven't heard these terms, even if you do meditate. Yet research finds adverse effects occur in half of all meditators. For one in 10, it impairs their functioning or lasts more than a month. Experts say many people can benefit from meditation, but it can also come with harms. Today, the second episode of a two-part special on the research into those harms and the personal stories of those who've experienced them. You can hear part one of the series here. Guests: Willoughby Britton Associate Professor, Brown University Medical School; Director of the Clinical and Affective Neuroscience Lab Nicholas Van Dam Associate Professor, Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences; Director of the Contemplative Studies Center at the University of Melbourne Willem Kuyken Professor of Mindfulness and Psychological Science, University of Oxford Jane Reed Experienced adverse effects from meditation and the author of First Telling Sue Experienced adverse effects from meditation Credits: Presenter: Sana Qadar Reporter/Producer: Fiona Pepper Senior Producer: James Bullen Producer: Rose Kerr Extra info: Defining and measuring meditation-related adverse effects in mindfulness-based programs The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of universal school-based mindfulness training compared with normal school provision in reducing risk of mental health problems and promoting well-being in adolescence: the MYRIAD cluster randomised controlled trial Cheetah House To explore more great episodes from the award-winning psychology podcast All in the Mind with host Sana Qadar, download the ABC Listen app (Australia) or search 'ABC All in the Mind podcast' wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find more episodes on mental health, trauma, attachment theory, wellness hacks, and family relationships. You'll also hear interviews with experts like Esther Perel, Billy Garvey and Ethan Kross. All in the Mind is created for ABC's Radio National by specialist journalists and reporters at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Meditation has a lot of benefits, but could it also have risks? Over the past decade, meditation and mindfulness have been promoted to reduce stress and increase relaxation. But there is another story of meditation that rarely gets told... one that involves anxiety, insomnia — even psychosis. Today, how one person went from being an evangelical mindfulness meditator, to a leading researcher on the adverse effects of meditation. Guests: Willoughby Britton Associate professor, Brown University Medical School and director of the Clinical and Affective Neuroscience Lab Pawan Sharma Assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Pattan Academy of Health Sciences School of Medicine Pierce Salguero Professor of Asian History and Health Humanities at Penn State University Credits: Presenter: Sana Qadar Reporter/producer: Fiona Pepper Senior producer: James Bullen Producer: Rose Kerr Extra information: Defining and measuring meditation-related adverse effects in mindfulness-based programs Prevalence and 20-year trends in meditation, yoga, guided imagery and progressive relaxation use among US adults from 2002 to 2022 Prevalence and predictors of meditation use in Australia and New Zealand: results from a nationally representative survey Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy improves polysomnographic and subjective sleep profiles in antidepressant users with sleep complaints Meditation-induced psychosis: a narrative review and individual patient data analysis Psychiatric Problems Precipitated by Transcendental Meditation The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists Cheetah House To explore more great episodes from the award-winning psychology podcast All in the Mind with host Sana Qadar, download the ABC Listen app (Australia) or search 'ABC All in the Mind podcast' wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find more episodes on mental health, trauma, attachment theory, wellness hacks, and family relationships. You'll also hear interviews with experts like Esther Perel, Billy Garvey and Ethan Kross. All in the Mind is created for ABC's Radio National by specialist journalists and reporters at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Closure can feel like the ultimate solution to help us heal. But is it all it's cracked up to be? Today, we learn about ambiguous loss — the type of grief that comes without closure. We know navigating uncertainty is tricky, so what practical steps can we take to process this kind of loss? A heads up, this episode touches on some heavy topics around loss and trauma. Guests: Carly Dober Psychologist Dr Pauline Boss Professor emeritus, University of Minnesota Author, Myth of Closure: Ambiguous Loss in a Time of Pandemic Author, Change and Ambiguous Loss: Learning to Live with Unresolved Grief Credits: Presenter/producer: Sana Qadar Senior producer: James Bullen Producer: Rose Kerr Sound engineer: Roi Huberman More information: The psychology of closure — and why some need it more than others Motivated closing of the mind: "seizing" and "freezing" Beyond dogmatism: The need for closure as related to religion Need for cognitive closure, tolerance for ambiguity, and perfectionism in medical school applicants Ambiguous loss To explore more great episodes from the award-winning psychology podcast All in the Mind with host Sana Qadar, download the ABC Listen app (Australia) or search 'ABC All in the Mind podcast' wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find more episodes on mental health, trauma, attachment theory, wellness hacks, and family relationships. You'll also hear interviews with experts like Esther Perel, Billy Garvey and Ethan Kross. All in the Mind is created for ABC's Radio National by specialist journalists and reporters at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.