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

Available for over a year

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.