大象传媒

SUICIDE IN WALES
The new strategy to cut suicide rates in Wales has been welcomed by the former chief executive of the Samaritans. The Welsh Assembly says that almost three quarters of those who have killed themselves in Wales had had no contact with mental health services in the year before they died.

Simon Armson, a clinical psychotherapist who used to be chief executive of the Samaritans welcomes the idea of concentrating everybody鈥檚 mind on the problem. Claudia speaks to him about why it鈥檚 OK to talk about suicidal feelings.

INTENSIVE CARE
Every year ten thousand children are treated in paediatric intensive care units in the UK. Most of the time they鈥檙e sedated with drugs, and new research has found that a significant number experience hallucinations brought on by the drugs they鈥檙e given. These experiences can leave children with disturbing flashbacks later on, but clinical psychologists can play a part in helping both children and their parents to cope with a stay in intensive care.

Claudia visited the paediatric intensive care unit at St George鈥檚 Hospital in south London to meet clinical psychologist Dr Gillian Colville - to see how it鈥檚 done.

BLUE LIGHT
New research has found that if office workers sit under lights which have a blue-ish tinge, they not only feel happier and find it easier to concentrate, but they even sleep better at night. Derk-Jan Dijk, Professor of Sleep of Physiology at the University of Surrey described this bluish light to Claudia.

PSYCHICS HEARING VOICES
Many people would assume that hearing voices is a mental health problem, but that's not the case for everyone. Psychics and mediums often hear voices and say they wouldn鈥檛 be without them. Dr Liz Andrew, Clinical Psychologist and Research Fellow at Cardiff University, set out to find out how hearing voices is a positive experience for one set of people,and a distressing one for another.

Her results have just been published in the journal Psychological Medicine. She explained to Claudia how the people with mental health problems in her study felt about their voices.