Help us learn more about our responses to COVID19

It is a strange and, for many, a really difficult time. I hope you are all managing as well as possible and that your and yours are all doing ok…

I know its been a while since the last post (hopefully that will change soon) but I think that a project I am currently taking part in may be of interest to many of you, and I wanted to share an opportunity to take part…

What is the ‘psychology’ of epidemic diseases?

This is the question we are exploring! I’m part of a team at London South Bank University who are exploring how we respond psychologically to events such as the COVID19 outbreak – we have some studies we have completed the initial phases of work for already (such as looking at how being in a group changes the way we feel about disease), but also some that are currently recruiting. If you’d like to help us, you may be able to volunteer to take part in one in particular…

What does it involve?

In brief, we are looking for people to spend about 30-40 minutes with us to do an interview via phone or Skype, discussing how they seek out, understand and evaluate information around corona virus.

Who can take part?

We are looking for volunteers who are English speakers living in the UK who are aged between 20-30 years old and also UK ex-pats who live in Hong Kong of any age.

How can I find out more?

Easy! just email me at fringsd@lsbu.ac.uk and we will be in touch with an information sheet which has full details 🙂 Equally, please share this invite with anyone you know who may be interested and eligible to take part 🙂

In anycase…

Regardless of whether this is of interest or not, I really hope you are all able to stay as healthy (physically and, of course, psychologically) as possible over the coming weeks, not matter what is thrown at you. I also hope that when silver linings do appear (whether this is being less busy and taking time to yourself, being more busy learning new skills, or just appreciating the sunshine through kitchen window) you are able to grab the opportunity…

Free Social Prescribing event in London

The future of social prescribing workshop.

Some time ago, I wrote a post on social prescribing. Since then, I have ended up doing some research in this field. I am also helping to host a British Psychological Society sponsored workshop exploring ‘Challenges to Social Prescribing’. The London event will be taking place in November. If your are involved in the field, or just plain interested, I would love it if you could join us…. I am even giving a talk 🙂  Find out more below…

Continue reading “Free Social Prescribing event in London”

Intrinsic motivation and extrinsic rewards

Intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation

Understanding how intrinsic and extrinsic forms of motivation differ helps us plan our activities and stay engaged with tasks at hand. Intrinsic motivation is based on inner values, whilst extrinsic is based on contingent rewards. But how can we harness our internal motivation and how (and when) do extrinsic rewards help (or hinder)? Read on to find more…

Continue reading “Intrinsic motivation and extrinsic rewards”

Low alcohol wine? You may just neck the whole bottle!

Why low alcohol messages may not be the answer…

Over the last few years a lot of the alcohol research I have been involved in has been looking at helping people make better decisions about their alcohol consumption. Drinking too much has massive implication for society – it contributes to a generally high prevalence of people being overweight (alcohol is highly calorific) and people consuming alcohol takes a toll on society – both in terms of long term health care costs (i.e. people being at increased risk of heart and liver disease) but also in terms of alcohol related violence. Public health campaigns encouraging us to drink responsibly have met with limited success, and it’s not a problem that will go away. One possible way we could be approach this is by making low alcohol wines and beers more widely available – giving people a choice of a less calorific, less intoxicating drink. But would this work? Me and some colleagues from LSBU’s Centre for Addictive Behaviours Research teamed up with Cambridge University’s Behaviour and Health Research Unit to start finding out out…

Continue reading “Low alcohol wine? You may just neck the whole bottle!”

Feeling blue? We’re testing a new psychological help app – ‘Tomo’

Help us test the efficacy of Tomo!

If you are currently feeling low / blue and live in London, you may be interested in some research I am involved in. We are currently recruiting people to take part in trial of a new app – ‘Tomo’ which may help improve mood and psychological wellbeing.

Find out more here

Continue reading “Feeling blue? We’re testing a new psychological help app – ‘Tomo’”

Social connections and social prescribing

The power of social connections and the rise of social prescribing

One way of dealing with stress is to draw on the positive social identities in our lives. A growing body of research suggests that the social connections we have can buffer us from the effects of traumatic events, improve mental health and also let us bounce back from physical ailments more quickly. In the guise of ‘social prescribing’, this idea is also increasingly being used to find ways to replace or compliment medicine.

Continue reading “Social connections and social prescribing”

Time perspectives and wellbeing

The psychology of time perspectives

Have you ever thought about the psychology of time? Some of us think a lot about future, constantly planning and wondering ‘what if’. Often, we worry about what will happen tomorrow or next week. Others are more focused on the past, replaying and ruminating on the same event over and over. We are always hearing it is good to be ‘in the present’. But what does the study of the psychology of time tell us about all this?

Continue reading “Time perspectives and wellbeing”

Humour and stress reduction

Humour and stress reduction

We have all heard that laughter is the best medicine, but how does humour help with stress reduction? Is all humour equal? How do we use it? Read on to find out more…

Continue reading “Humour and stress reduction”

The transactional model of stress and coping

The transactional model of stress and coping

One way of improving our relationship with stress is to understand some of the processes which underpin it, and how they influence the ways we try and cope. One way of understanding this is through the transactional model of stress and coping1. The transactional model of stress and coping argues that our experience of stress is ultimately a system of appraisal, response and adaptation.

Continue reading “The transactional model of stress and coping”

The downsides of positive thinking

Positive thinking

We think of positive thinking as a good thing right? Self-improving, make stuff happen, avoid doubt and feeling bad type stuff? An intriguing post I came across this week (retweeted by @amber_saying on twitter) suggests it is not quite so straight forward… Interesting and thought provoking read!

7 Brutal Truths about I learnt after I gave up positive thinking (ideapod blogpost)

 

Keep up to date with the latest posts – get a weekly digest straight to your inbox

You can opt out of these emails at any time, and I will never share your email address with other people. I hate spam as much as anyone, so will not be bombarding you with emails!