Podcast The psychiatry of The Shawshank Redemption

In this conversation with Dr Raj Persaud, Dr Mark Sinyor discusses one of the best-rated movies of all time, The Shawshank Redemption, and its effect on the rates of suicide in the population. Dr Sinyor argues that the film provides positive examples of the Papageno effect, or the notion that portrayals in the media of the ways and means of how people have overcome suicidal thoughts in a positive way prevents people from taking their own lives. CPD credits: 0.5

Podcast Understanding and treating severe mental illnesses with limited resources

In this podcast, Dr Raj Persaud speaks with psychiatrist Dr Sean Baumann, author of the book Madness: Stories of Uncertainty and Hope. Dr Baumann explains how he looked after the most seriously mentally ill in a part of South Africa where the mental health system has severely limited resources. CPD credits: 0.5

Module Quickbite: Mind your language – effective communication in clinical practice

Language is something we constantly use. All medical students learn communication, empathy and how to break bad news. To psychiatrists, words are the equivalent of stethoscopes or ECGs – we use words to elicit patient responses and to understand people's emotions, mental states and inner worlds. We tend to think that as psychiatrists, we particularly know how to use language respectfully and appropriately. But do we really? This module is based on the work of Veryan Richards, an RCPsych lay representative who developed the person-centred language principles with the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Wales. The principles provide a helpful lens through which to shape the language used in clinical practice. Using the words of patients will help to provoke some reflection on how we as psychiatrists utilise language, along with the impact of this on patients and families. CPD credits: 0.5

Podcast How to keep an open mind

In this podcast, Dr Raj Persaud questions philosophy professor Richard Bett on the views expressed in his book How to Keep an Open Mind. Professor Bett discusses ancient philosopher Sextus Empiricus's brand of scepticism and how it may apply to modern life. In his view, such scepticism may help us see what can be said on all sides of an issue which, in turn, could lead to a greater open-mindedness. He states, furthermore, that if the pressure to form beliefs is itself a major source of distress and turmoil in our lives, we can achieve a more tranquil life by suspending judgement and keeping an open mind as Sextus Empiricus advocated many centuries ago.

Other recently published CPD eLearning podcasts (each worth 0.5 CPD credits and freely accessible) include:

• • Are you ignorant about the pandemic?

• • Lost in thought: can intellect save you in a pandemic?

• • The psychology behind mathematical modelling of epidemics

• • Managing alcohol withdrawal in acute in-patient psychiatry

• • Coping with the ‘pointless suffering’ of COVID-19

• • Re-reading Camus's ‘The Plague’ in pandemic times

• • Obedience to authority – lessons from Milgram applied to COVID-19

• • Mental Health Tribunals: response to the COVID-19 emergency

• • How do we lead effectively through the COVID-19 pandemic?

• • Working with patients remotely

• • Ethical considerations arising from COVID-19

• • COVID-19: Isolation and loneliness – is there a ‘social cure’?

• • Psychosocial response to epidemics – lessons from Ebola applied to COVID-19

• • Surviving the trauma: post-traumatic stress disorder in relation to COVID-19

• • The psychology of the virus ‘super-spreader’

• • The psychology of coping with quarantine

• • The psychology and psychiatry of pandemics.