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DOCTORS IN DIFFICULTY
When you feel ill or depressed your doctor is the obvious person to turn to, but who do doctors turn to when they’re in a bad way? 28% suffer from depression and an unusually high proportion think about suicide. At a conference this week on Managing Poor Performance in Doctors at the Royal Society of Medicine, evidence suggested that a lot of doctors who make mistakes aren’t simply bad doctors – they’re depressed or burnt out. The problem is such that from the autumn the National Clinical Assessment Service is starting a new pilot service in London especially for doctors and dentists. All in the Mind talked to Dr Becky Hirst, who works as a Specialist Registrar in palliative care in Sheffield and who was shocked to find herself unable to cope due to depression. We also hear from Jenny King, a psychologist at Edgcumbe Consulting Group who sees underperforming doctors; and Dr Antony Garelick, consultant psychiatrist and psychotherapist who heads Mednet, a clinical service for doctors in South East England

SNOOP
Dr Sam Gosling, a psychologist at the University of Texas, reckons that we can obtain insights into personality by looking at someone’s belongings. All in the Mind tests this out on You and Yours presenter, Winifred Robinson, and Claudia talks about the psychology of possessions with Dr. Gosling.

LIE DETECTOR
There’s something about the idea of getting at the truth that appeals to us all. But since truth drugs make you talk, but not necessarily tell the truth and lie detector tests are easy to fake, then there’s no reliable, scientific way of discovering the truth. But just the other day psychologists at a British Psychological Society event listened to an Indian neuropsychologist who believes he’s come up with the answer. Professor C R Mukundan is pioneering a system where the suspect doesn’t even say a single word. Brain Electrical Oscillations Signature profiling – or BEOS - works by analysing a subject’s brain activity in response to a series of statements – or probes - detailing their suspected involvement in the crime. When they hear a true statement which tallies with their experience their brain has a kind of flash of remembrance which is registered by a computer. BEOS has already been used in a number of murder investigations in India and Professor Mukundan told All in the Mind more about how it works….