Many people say that knitting or crochet helped ease their anxiety during the Covid-19 lockdowns - but what is it about these repetitive, absorbing and creative hobbies that soothe the mind? Claire Anketell set up free Yarn for Mental Health courses in Northern Ireland a year ago and Gemma was one of the first to attend. She says crochet has helped to reduce her stress levels and she's graduated to making blankets. Esther Rutter's book This Golden Fleece: A Journey through Britain's Knitted History aims to unpick what textiles mean to us - including how they became part of the treatment for mental health problems. Learning a skill by following a pattern, connecting with other people and being distracted from everyday worries tick some of the boxes which we associate with wellbeing. But it's hard to pin down exactly which elements can boost our mood. Dr Sarah McKay author of The Woman's Brain Book: the Neuroscience of Health, Hormones and Happiness assesses whether we need hard evidence to carry on casting on. The charity Fine Cell Work has been teaching prisoners embroidery, needlepoint and quilting for 25 years. CEO Victoria Gillies says the idea is to rehabilitate prisoners and ex-prisoners as they sew high-quality elaborate cushions and footstools. We hear about the difference it's made to stitchers like Ben and how crafting can cut the reoffending rates of ex-prisoners who work in their Hub in London.

Fergal Keane describes living with PTSD. For thirty years, Fergal covered some of the most brutal wars for the BBC, including Rwanda, Iraq and Ukraine. Despite having PTSD, he kept going, taking more and more risks until witnessing a massacre in Sudan, he realised he couldn't do it anymore, that for him going to war had become an addiction. He talks to Claudia about his ongoing work, recovering from PTSD. Professor Daryl O'Connor's new research finds that people who got Covid-19 early in the pandemic were twice as likely to experience depressive symptoms than those who didn't. And Dr Gillian Sandstrom on why men ask 2.4 more questions than women at conferences.

A new study highlights the increase in the number of teenagers - especially girls - developing involuntary physical and vocal tics during the pandemic. Neurologist Professor Jon Stone from the University of Edinburgh explains how they differ from those seen in patients with Tourette's - which come on very gradually are most often seen in eight to ten year old boys. One of his patients Beth first had tics four years ago, starting with spasms in her abdomen which pulled her upper body forwards. Prof Stone says that functional tics are caused by the brain not working properly and that it's an oversimplification to say they are the result of young people watching too many Tiktok videos. Professor Tamara Pringsheim is a neurologist in Calgary, Canada, who's just published a study showing how widespread they are across the world. She says that almost overnight her clinic was filled with teenage girls - after years of only seeing younger boys with Tourette's. She says the outlook for teenagers with tics is good - they usually get better, often within 6 months. Treatment can include cognitive behavioural therapy and it's also useful to involve the whole family - relatives should be discouraged from using humour to diffuse tension when a teenager tics, as it can make them last longer. Beth has just started university and is learning to live with her tics - and finds important social support from online communities of others who have tics. Professor of health psychology at the University of Leeds, Daryl O'Connor shares Professor Stone's scepticism about the role of Tiktok in rise in the number of tics. He also explains how a study where girls were encouraged to pretend they were scientists resulted in them playing a science game for longer. Dr Carolin Schuster from Leuphana University in Germany has published a study showing that encouraging messages to HR professionals can help to cut the gender pay gap - but it's yet to be seen if the intervention would work in real-life not just the lab.

Mental health awareness campaigns have reduced stigma and changed attitudes to mental illness, but has the messaging also led to unintended consequences? With the help of a panel consisting of mental health campaigner James Downs, the former director of Time to Change England Sue Baker, psychologist and author Lucy Foulkes and Katja Pavlovna of the Lives not Labels (sorry my mental illness isn't sexy enough for you) website, bring their own experiences of mental health problems and expertise in their fields to debate with Claudia the nuanced implications around increasing awareness and what they would like to see in the future.

With busy lifestyles many turn to devices for aide memoires. Claudia discusses new findings with Dr Sam Gilbert who studies so called ‘offloading’ and gives tips on how best to remember the important things. And a visit to Manchester’s Turn it Up exhibition reveals what psychological research can tell us about the safest music to drive to; while guest Professor Catherine Loveday unpicks this year's trend, 'Dopamine Gifting'.

Claudia launches the 2023 All in the Mind Awards with mental health campaigner Marion Janner and actor Maddie Leslay, Chelsea from Radio 4's "The Archers" and a 2018 awards finalist. We ask why it takes nine and a half years to get a diagnosis of bipolar disorder following a recent report and joining Claudia in the studio is Professor Catherine Loveday whose recent paper tells us about the benefits of swearing.

Claudia meets Professor Elizabeth Stokoe author of 'Crisis Talks' whose research shows when preventing a suicide, that words really do matter and can save lives during a crisis. Through analysing real time recordings of actual conversations between people in crisis and police negotiators, new findings highlight what can work and what doesn't. And are you good with faces? Dr James Dunn from the University of New South Wales explains his new research on the top 2% who are so called 'super recognisers'. Plus Science writer David Robson reports on the big neuroscience conference from San Diego with news of sleeping spiders and seeing faces in clouds. Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Erika Wright

Claudia Hammond meets cognitive scientist and author Steven Pinker. He describes the times we are living in as a pandemic of poppycock and has advice on how to be more rational.

What amount of biodiversity in our cities is enough to benefit our wellbeing? Good evidence can be hard to come by. Andrea Mechelli, professor of Early Intervention in Mental Health at Kings College London, together with landscape architect Joanna Gibbons discuss their pioneering Urban Mind citizen science project which adopts a smartphone app to work out how much trees, birdsong and access to water have a significant effect on an individual’s mood. How does kindness breed kindness? Daniel Martins reveals his new research into the so called 'cuddle hormone' oxytocin which helps to uncover the biological mechanism into how well our brains learn the impact of a task when we’re doing it to benefit someone else. Are crowd stampedes to a false alarm a genuine overreaction? Claudia hears from Dermot Barr whose team have been analysing the dynamics of crowd flights from around the world in the hope of preventing them from happening. Claudia’s guest is Professor Catherine Loveday from University of Westminster. Made in partnership with the Open University Producer: Adrian Washbourne

They call it "the knock" - when the police are at the door and demand to take away laptops and phones to search for evidence of images of child sexual abuse. Our reporter Jo Morris talks to "Emma" (not her real name) about the moment her life was turned upside down when her then husband was accused of looking at indecent images of children. She felt isolated and wasn't given any support to explain to her children about what was happening, once social services had made sure that the children hadn't been directly harmed by their father. She told her younger children that their father's computer had been taken away because it was broken - and was more open with the older children about what he'd done. The family moved house and changed their name once vigilantes became aware of the case and her oldest child had suicidal thoughts and was hospitalised. Emma eventually got support from the charity Children Heard and Seen, which offers face-to-face support to children in Oxford and Birmingham and online support to families across the country. Sarah Burrows and James Otley explain how their online groups and mentoring help to support families like Emma's. The Ministry of Justice say that there is help for children who are victims of crime, but a victim is defined as someone who is directly affected by a criminal offence, so families of offenders are not deemed to be victims of crime. There are no plans to change this as it could result in victims of crime receiving less support. Robin Dunbar examines the psychology of religion in his new book How Religion Evolved and Why It Endures. The Emeritus Professor of Evolutionary Psychology at the University of Oxford believes that the number 150 which he popularised as the "optimum" number for successful social groups also plays a significant role in religious gatherings. He explains how the bonds created by religion offer benefits to individuals and communities. Our studio guest Professor Catherine Loveday from the University of Westminster offers ideas on how to avoid doomscrolling, when the news feels overwhelming and whether professional or amateur musicians are more at risk of developing anxiety and depression. Producer: Paula McGrath Made in partnership with the Open University