All In The Mind

Why do people lie? Why do relationships fall apart? Can trauma change your brain?

Every week on All in the Mind, award-winning journalist Sana Qadar explores the psychology behind the biggest questions in our lives — how we think, feel and behave.

Featuring leading experts like Esther Perel, Billy Garvey and Ethan Kross, you’ll hear personal stories and practical insights that will leave you thinking long after the podcast ends.

Whether it’s debunking pop psychology trends or translating the latest neuroscience research, more than 100,000 listeners join Sana each month to learn the best strategies for surviving life with your mental health intact.

All in the Mind is created for ABC’s Radio National by specialist journalists and reporters at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and was awarded Best Health and Wellness podcast at the 2026 Australian Audio Awards

Latest Episodes:

Writing on the Mind the power of story telling Oct 01, 2005

Show notes

What is the narrative of our lives - and can we influence the way our story is told? Michael White is a psychologist and therapist who in the 1970s co-founded the internationally successful therapeutic technique known as Narrative Therapy. Barbara Brooks is a memoir writer, biographer, and lecturer in life writing. Both listen to stories and then fill out the spaces in between. They join producer Gretchen Miller in conversation.

Do You See What I See? Delusions Sep 24, 2005

Show notes

Cotard's syndrome is the belief that you have died, and for sufferers it is a terrifying state. Delusions can take many forms, from widespread paranoia to a specific and singular delusion - you might think an impostor has replaced your spouse. These misbeliefs are commonly associated with schizophrenia, but they can also occur in people with brain injuries, Huntington's and Parkinson's disease and dementia. The Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science is seeking to explain delusions by developing a model of how we all come to accept or reject beliefs. We see how this research is progressing.

Missing the Point! - The mysteries of Autism Sep 17, 2005

Show notes

One of the common first indicators of autism is the inability of the 18-month-old child to point with their index finger. Autism shapes behaviour and severely limits a person's ability to form relationships and communicate. But the complex causes of this disorder are obscure. We look at some of the research seeking answers, and a mother with a 3-year-old autistic son portrays life with this mystery.

The Wings of a Butterfly - Children, Teenagers and Anxiety. Sep 10, 2005

Show notes

The World Health Organisation estimates that by the year 2020 depression will be the world's second most prevalent illness. The whirlwind of changes experienced by teenagers make them particularly vulnerable to this. Right around Australia high schools are looking at how to teach resilience to adolescents, and thus the skills that enable kids to spring back from adversity. And what does new neurobiological research tell us about the impact of trauma on the developing brain?

Life on Ice - Behind the Psychology of Infertility Sep 03, 2005

Show notes

For many people becoming a parent is at the very heart of the meaning of life.

Self Help Obsession? Aug 27, 2005

Show notes

Each year Australians spend millions of dollars striving for personal perfection. There is a multi-billion-dollar industry to tell us how to do anything from remove excess fat on our bodies to bulk-up the mediocrity of our pay packets. The language of self help has seeped into almost every corner of our lives, with TV programs like Dr Phil giving daily advice for self improvement. Micki McGee - a sociologist from New York University - puts this personal development phenomenon under the microscope, and self-help author Stephanie Dowrick defends the usefulness of the genre.

Remember This! - Recovering the Memories (Part 3 of 3) Aug 20, 2005

Show notes

The impact of memory loss can be utterly profound. We depend on our capacity to remember at every turn - from shopping lists to the names of our children. Brain injury can put a devastating spanner in the works. What memories can be recovered, what must be relearned, and what might be compensated for if you suffer the trauma of brain damage? In Part 3 of this BBC series on the science of memory, some new technologies to aid those with fractured memory. And, the phenomenon of the super-memory - how do memory whizzes do it?

Remember This! - Losing Control (Part 2 of 3) Aug 13, 2005

Show notes

Losing grip on your memory is terrifying. The brutal memories that plague those with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can revive the visceral emotions of traumas past. In part 2 of this series on the science of memory, BBC presenter Pam Rutherford explores why memory goes haywire during both PTSD and depression, and the important role emotions play in the machinations of your mind's memory vault.

Remember This! - The Origins of Memory (Part 1 of 3) Aug 06, 2005

Show notes

Do you remember your first kiss? The smell of your grandmother's perfume? How to do calculus? From birth through to death our brains will file away impressive amounts of information - names, faces, sounds, smells, and events, and the emotions that we bundle up with all of these. We're ever reliant on our ability to plunder our mind's memory vault at a moment's notice. But what are the neurological processes that give birth to a memory? The first in a series of 3 programs exploring memory, from the BBC World Service.

Neuroethics and the 21st Century Brain Jul 30, 2005

Show notes

The 21st century has been coined the Century of the Brain. But as the exciting tools of neuroscience probe deeper compelling ethical and philosophical questions over the privacy of our thoughts, identity and selfhood are coming to the fore. What if a brain scan revealed more about you than you really want to know? How might neuroscience be used in the courts? What can we confidently read from the bright lights of a brain image? How should this information be used beyond the research lab? Two of the world's leading thinkers in the emerging field of 'neuroethics' explore these and other timely questions.

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