A research study to learn more about the causes and consequences of stress has featured in a special edition of BBC Radio Four’s All in the Mind programme.
Professor Peter Kinderman, Head of the Institute of Psychology, Health and Society, in collaboration with the BBC Lab UK, launched The Stress Test, a pioneering online experiment to test the nations’ stress and well-being.
The Stress Test measures subjective stress and psychological well-being but it will also be trying to answer some deeper questions about the underlying reasons why some people succumb to symptoms of anxiety and depression and stress but others don’t.
Professor Kinderman said: “In the UK the National Health Service spends in the region of £219 million per year on mental health research but science doesn’t have a comprehensive explanation of the causes of mental disorder. Is it down to our biological disposition – our genetics or are psychological and social factors better able to explain changes to our psychological health?”
Does it make sense to talk about a diagnosable mental illness or is it more beneficial to look at mental health as being on a continuum? Using the online study the Stress Test will be able to unpick which factors best explain changes to our mental health and so provide evidence of whether biology or psychology and social factors are the better way of explaining our psychological health.
Visit: https://www.bbc.co.uk/labuk/experiments/stress/ to take the test.