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1:4 and Stigma; Emotional Brain Training; Clio Barnard

The statistic that one in four people can experience a mental health problem in any given year forms a core part of campaigns to reduce stigma and discrimination. But does it work?

"One in Four" has been a prominent slogan in campaigns to reduce stigma and discrimination against people with mental health problems. But Clinical Psychologist Martin Seager tells Claudia Hammond why he believes saying 'one in four' people will experience mental illness in any one year actually increases prejudice, artificially separating our mental health from our physical health. The Director of Time to Change, Sue Baker, disagrees, and argues that this statistical campaign tool has helped to normalise mental illness and played an important part in changing public attitudes.

Humans vary in their ability to "keep a cool head" in emotionally charged situations, and difficulty to regulating emotions is linked to many psychiatric disorders. Dr Tim Dalgliesh from the Medical Research Council's Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit at the University of Cambridge tells Claudia about new research which suggests our brains could, with practice, be trained to focus on the goal at hand, and not get diverted by overwhelming emotions.

TV dramas, plays and films can be ruined when scriptwriters get the science wrong. The Wellcome Trust's first ever screenwriting fellowship is an attempt to give film makers the chance to immerse themselves in science and explore their interests with the country's top scientific brains. Award winning film maker Clio Barnard (The Arbor and The Selfish Giant) has spent a year trawling the Wellcome archives and meeting psychologists, psychiatrists and neuroscientists investigating memory, perception, hallucination and the impact of trauma: all themes which recur in her movies.

Producer: Fiona Hill.

Available now

28 minutes

Chapters

  • 1:4 and Stigma

    Claudia Hammond asks if the 1:4 mental health statistic reduces or increases stigma?

    Duration: 11:46

  • Emotional Brain Training

    Dr Tim Dalgleish on emotional brain training

    Duration: 06:54

  • Clio Barnard

    Film Maker Clio Barnard on life as the Wellcome Trust’s first screenwriting fellow

    Duration: 07:00

Broadcasts

  • Tue 11 Nov 2014 21:02
  • Wed 12 Nov 2014 15:30

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