Our Latest Articles

As a devotee to the art of music and a past, present, and (most likely) future feeler of pain, the idea that I can take something that I...

The historical journey of a retired professor. I was appointed to the Chair of Psychiatry at Newcastle University in 1990. I was involved...

Directly connected to the infant need of contact with the caregivers, which I have discussed in the previous article in my column, another fundamental need of the baby is being comforted when crying. For little babies, crying is a powerful biological sign and, in fact, is the only way they have to communicate their needs. It can be anything: from the need to be fed or to sleep, to discomfort from a dirty nappy or an upset stomach, to the need to receive some physical comfort

A chat with scientists Roger Olsson and Magnus Berggren We might all remember, from our elementary school science class, how to make a circuit that transports electricity. With conductive material, if we form a closed loop, we can transport electrical charge from one place to another. This usually happens with the help of metal, a highly conductive material. Over the years, this basic concept has been used to develop some cutting-edge technologies able to save people’s lives.

As a visiting researcher at NIMHANS, I had the privilege of working in one of India's premier mental health institutions in Bangalore.

Due to its multi-dimensional and multi-faceted nature, I’m still learning all about perfectionism in its many shapes and forms...

In today’s busy culture, I’d be surprised to find anyone who wasn’t keen to discover a new way to boost their focus, sleep and...

Exploring the intersection of depression and cardiometabolic health

Despite all efforts, women remain underrepresented in academia, particularly in leadership positions.

It is a day when we raise public awareness of mental health problems that can occur in pregnant women and mothers...

They are not real but can really feel as though they are. From our own sofa, we can explore new places, encounter strange creatures and...

Most of us know what it feels like to wake up on a Monday morning after a long weekend of clubbing, head pounding and body aching all...

In my last article, I talked about the importance of parental response to the baby and, in general, of the parent-infant relationship for the infant's long-term development. But what do we mean by the parental response to the baby? Babies rely completely on their caregivers and have many needs that need to be met. These go from more “practical and basic” needs such as being fed, cleaned, dressed, and changed, to more complex and “psychological” needs such as being cuddled, co

How Your Mental Health Affects Your Skin For as long as I can remember, I have always been incredibly ticklish. This was a curse when I...

I woke up to the soothing pitter-patter of raindrops last week. Trees were swaying in an exhilarating dance on the music of rustling...

What comes to your mind when you hear the acronym TLC? For some (especially healthcare professionals), the first thought is "Tender...

Fairy tales provide a framework for how to deal with the challenges and conflicts of growing up...

Around 10% of the UK population is estimated to be affected by claustrophobia at some point during their lifetime, according to the NHS.

Hospital setting. A child is born and cries at the top of his lungs. The hospital personnel carefully takes the newborn from the mother...

How first experiences impact the infant development Two days after my daughter was born, in Milan, Italy, I was in the hospital nursery room. When I was there, another baby girl was ready to go home with her parents, when her dad said, loudly (in Italian), “Can you see how all the other babies and parents are happy to see you go finally, so they can stop hearing you cry? We cannot hold you all the time darling, life is painful, so you’d better get used to it”. I found these w

Most of us think that a cat purrs when it is happy, however, there is much more behind it, from communication to healing properties. As...

An interview with genetic epidemiologist Dr. Ashley-Koch about which genes are correlated with suicidal behaviours and why learning about them is crucial for early intervention. Allison Elizabeth Ashley-Koch is a genetic epidemiologist at Duke University School of Medicine and she’s dedicated her life’s work to figuring out the genetic basis of several diseases, especially those pertaining to mental health. She has recently published a paper pinpointing four specific genes wh

If you find yourself tossing and turning at night, your mind buzzing with thoughts — among them why you are not asleep — you are not...

An interview with our new columnist, a psychologist and a mother, Dr Alessandra Biaggi Image source: Photo by Dominika Roseclay on Pexels Ahead of the launch of the new column “The Perinatal Journey - Walking through the first years of life” on Inspire the Mind, I sat down with its creator, Dr Alessandra Biaggi, to learn more about it. I first met Alessandra a few years ago, when she worked as part of the perinatal (the time between pregnancy and the first year of life) psych