#LetsTalk Podcast

Anthony, maintaining academic connections with students and researchers

Dr Anthony Newton, Senior Tutor in the School of GeoSciences, talks about the changes that lockdown is bringing within his School, from missing the chats by the kettle that bond a team and also often lead to important information or discoveries, through redesigning activities and assignments when all the field trips are cancelled, to rethinking multiple possible scenarios for how next year might look. We get insights from Anthony into how students and staff are staying connected, and we hear about the ‘Café at the end of the Universe’, a new meeting point for researchers in the Northern climes.

For Coronavirus updates and advice,and FAQs please see the University webpages here: https://www.ed.ac.uk/news/covid-19

For University support

The University Listening Service (for students and staff) is continuing throughout the lockdown, listening.service@ed.ac.uk

Student Counselling Service, https://www.ed.ac.uk/student-counselling

Staff Counselling Service, https://www.ed.ac.uk/counselling-services/staff

If any of the issues in this broadcast have affected you and you’d like support, here are some helplines.

If you feel that you or someone you are with is in danger right now, please call 999

A 24/ hour emergency mental health service, Mental health assessment service 0131 537 6000.

· Breathing Space 0800 83 85 87

· The Samaritans 08457 90 90 90

· Edinburgh Crisis Centre 0808 801 0414

ENJuly 01, 2020

Lets Talk: Life in lockdown episode 9- Liz- Global Health and Global Healing

Professor Liz Grant, Director of the Global Health Academy and Co-Director of the University of Edinburgh Global Compassion Initiative, gives us a global perspective on the pandemic, and its effects on lower income countries. Liz is a palliative care specialist, and describes the need for doctors, families and carers to be quickly trained in end-of-life care, because there usually isn’t time to bring in specialised palliative care teams. Liz also talks about her work with the World Health Organisation in making compassion the bedrock of our response to Covid19, and the prospect of changing our language from ‘isolating’ to ‘cocooning’ the vulnerable. Liz is also working with Religions for Peace, and envisions with faith leaders a society that will emerge more united from this pandemic, more aware of the power of faith and of nature in making us globally well.

For Coronavirus updates and advice,and FAQs please see the University webpages here: https://www.ed.ac.uk/news/covid-19

For University support

The University Listening Service (for students and staff) is continuing throughout the lockdown, listening.service@ed.ac.uk

Student Counselling Service, https://www.ed.ac.uk/student-counselling

Staff Counselling Service, https://www.ed.ac.uk/counselling-services/staff

If any of the issues in this broadcast have affected you and you’d like support, here are some helplines.

If you feel that you or someone you are with is in danger right now, please call 999

· Breathing Space 0800 83 85 87

· The Samaritans 08457 90 90 90

· Edinburgh Crisis Centre 0808 801 0414

ENJune 24, 2020

Lets Talk: Life in lockdown episode 8- Eva, self-compassion has turned the fear of being alone into a joyful solitude

Eva Mutua, a Vet School Masters student from Kenya, is finding things to be grateful for during lockdown. Eva describes how a compassion workshop and compassion practices have enabled her to face fears. Before lockdown was announced, Eva was frightened of being alone, regardless of the pandemic. The compassion workshop that she attended came just in time for her to find ways of turn her fears of loneliness into the discovery of the fruits of solitude. She is enjoying getting to know herself better and thereby leaning also to be a better friend to others. Practices that she particularly finds helpful are: taking time to be with yourself and do something fun just for the joy of it; morning journaling; tuning into your needs so that you can know whether you are meeting them; and facing your fears.

For Coronavirus updates and advice,and FAQs please see the University webpages here: https://www.ed.ac.uk/news/covid-19

For University support

The University Listening Service (for students and staff) is continuing throughout the lockdown, listening.service@ed.ac.uk

Student Counselling Service, https://www.ed.ac.uk/student-counselling

Staff Counselling Service, https://www.ed.ac.uk/counselling-services/staff

If any of the issues in this broadcast have affected you and you’d like support, here are some helplines.

If you feel that you or someone you are with is in danger right now, please call 999

A 24/ hour emergency mental health service, Mental health assessment service on 0131 537 6000.

Breathing Space 0800 83 85 87

The Samaritans 08457 90 90 90

Edinburgh Crisis Centre 0808 801 0414

ENJune 17, 2020

Lets Talk: Life in lockdown episode 7- Alan, support for depression during lockdown

Alan Murray, Professor of Engineering, and Assistant Principal, Academic Support, talks about support for depression during lockdown, how powerful and healing it is to face your feelings, writing songs, the joys of crafting, and his granddaughter's 7th birthday party on Zoom.

For Coronavirus updates and advice,and FAQs please see the University webpages here: https://www.ed.ac.uk/news/covid-19

For University support

The University Listening Service (for students and staff) is continuing throughout the lockdown, listening.service@ed.ac.uk

Student Counselling Service, https://www.ed.ac.uk/student-counselling

Staff Counselling Service, https://www.ed.ac.uk/counselling-services/staff

If any of the issues in this broadcast have affected you and you’d like support, here are some helplines.

If you feel that you or someone you are with is in danger right now, please call 999

A 24/ hour emergency mental health service, Mental health assessment service

us on 0131 537 6000

· Breathing Space 0800 83 85 87

· The Samaritans 08457 90 90 90

· Edinburgh Crisis Centre 0808 801 0414

ENJune 05, 2020

Lets Talk: Lockdown episode 6- Amanda, finishing your degree and starting a job in lockdown

What is like finishing up your degree and starting your new job, unable to see anyone outside your own flat? Amanda Scully, 4th year International Relations undergraduate and forthcoming Vice-President Communities with the Student Association, tells us about managing assessment changes and the library closure, ending her internship, and getting ready to start her busy Sabbatical Officer year, all from the confines of her small flat in Edinburgh. She also talks about her decision to remain in Edinburgh when many of her classmates were returning home, and what it is like to hear news of the lockdown from her home city of New York. She reflects on how connection with family can grow stronger despite, or because of social distancing, and the delights of transatlantic online family workouts!

ENJune 03, 2020

international relations

Lets Talk: Lockdown episode 5: Rosie, family estrangement and OCD in lockdown

Rosie Taylor is coming to the end of her 3rd year as a Biology undergraduate. She is the outgoing LGBT+ Officer with the Student Association, and a founding member of WellComm, the award-winning wellbeing and community organisation for STEM subjects at the University of Edinburgh. Rosie gave interviews in our previous Let’s Talk podcast series on Mental Health. In this episode during lockdown, Rosie talks about family estrangement in times of emergency, how overwhelming it can be to have all this time to think about how you are feeling, and wondering what a ‘return to normal’ means when you are questioning ‘What is my “normal”, what was my “before”?’. Rosie also describes how lockdown and online learning exacerbates aspects of OCD for her, and how she wants to feel safe but also to be open to things that she enjoys. And she revisits the subject of social media: the pressure of feeling always available; the messaging about the virus, or weight control in lockdown, and the push for productivity, which detracts from the time needed to be with ourselves and to heal ourselves; but also the possibility of watching Netflix online together and of contacting old friend

For Coronavirus updates and advice, and FAQs please see the University webpages here: https://www.ed.ac.uk/news/covid-19

For University support

The University Listening Service (for students and staff) is continuing throughout the lockdown, listening.service@ed.ac.uk

Student Counselling Service, https://www.ed.ac.uk/student-counselling

Staff Counselling Service, https://www.ed.ac.uk/counselling-services/staff

If any of the issues in this broadcast have affected you and you’d like support, here are some helplines.

If you feel that you or someone you are with is in danger right now, please call 999

A 24/ hour emergency mental health service, Mental health assessment service on 0131 537 6000.

· Breathing Space 0800 83 85 87

· The Samaritans 08457 90 90 90

· Edinburgh Crisis Centre 0808 801 0414

ENJune 03, 2020

Let's Talk: Lockdown episode 4- Marti & Compassion

Dr Marti Balaam from the Medical School and Nursing Studies talks about how compassion for ourselves as well as for others is so needed during the Covid19 lockdown. Marti talks about equipping nursing and medical students for going onto hospital wards, reminding them to look after themselves as well as their patients. She describes what happened when she and her household fell ill with suspected Covid19: how fear kicked in at first, and then she remembered what she teaches others about self-compassion. Marti also tells us about the Compassion Salon: a speak-easy initiative she has created, which is attracting attention from around the world.

For Coronavirus updates and advice, and FAQs please see the University webpages here: https://www.ed.ac.uk/news/covid-19

The Chaplaincy blogs ‘For Times Like These’ https://www.ed.ac.uk/chaplaincy/for-times-like-these are written specifically for mental health and wellbeing support during lockdown, as are these mindfulness virtual dropins: https://www.ed.ac.uk/chaplaincy/mindfulness-and-wellbeing/mindfulness-virtual-drop-ins

For University support

The University Listening Service (for students and staff) is continuing throughout the lockdown, listening.service@ed.ac.uk

Student Counselling Service, https://www.ed.ac.uk/student-counselling

Staff Counselling Service, https://www.ed.ac.uk/counselling-services/staff

If any of the issues in this broadcast have affected you and you’d like support, here are some helplines.

If you feel that you or someone you are with is in danger right now, please call 999

A 24/ hour emergency mental health service, Mental health assessment service

us on 0131 537 6000.

· Breathing Space 0800 83 85 87

· The Samaritans 08457 90 90 90

· Edinburgh Crisis Centre 0808 801 0414

ENMay 15, 2020

nhs

Let's talk: Lockdown Episode 3- Donna Dalgety & NHS

Dr Donna Dalgetty, a former PhD student, and former Medical and Nursing Fellow at the University of Edinburgh, is now an emergency doctor on the Isle of Whyte. She gives us some amazing insights into life on the wards during the Covid19 pandemic: the ways in which the crisis is changing the competitive nature of the NHS, and giving doctors a greater sense of permission to look out for one another and themselves. Her team is bending over backwards in welcoming the new cohort of doctors who have been fast-tracked onto the wards. Donna talks about the challenges of delivering compassionate care through layers of Personal Protective Equipment, managing PPE with hearing aids, and being an accompanier at the time of death. We also hear what a lifeline it is to NHS workers to hear the nation cheering them on at 8pm on Thursdays.

ENMay 15, 2020

Let'sTalk: Lockdown Episode 2- Sam and Jenny medics

Welcome to the Let’s Talk: Life in Lockdown series of podcasts from the UoE and Edinburgh Student Association, keeping us together and sharing experiences in this extraordinary period of Covid19 social distancing. The University is continuing, but in ways never before known. Most of us are working and studying away from University buildings, and in isolation from one another. We are all in this together, but in vastly diverse circumstances, and it is so interesting to hear from one another about these.

Sam Bresland and Jenny Pewsey are 5th year medics seeing the cohort in the year above fast-tracked through graduation. This experience has propelled them to find ways to support NHS staff by setting up the Edinburgh branch of MedicShare: a way for medical students and others to provide childcare for NHS workers. Sam and Jenny tell us about their work with MedicShare, and how they themselves are managing the social distancing, and finding different levels of interpretation and conscientiousness about what ‘distancing’ means. We also talk about where they were when the lockdown happened – a moment in time that almost froze us in whatever location we happened to be at the time.

ENMay 15, 2020

let's talk about health

Let'sTalk: Lockdown- episode 1 Kritika & NHS Frontline

I’m Harriet Harris, The University Chaplain, and in each short interview week I’m joined by students or staff of the University who talk about what they are doing in the lockdown.

6th year medic Kritika Kalia tells us how her graduation was brought forward by three months so that she is able to join in the frontline NHS work. Final year medical students are finding their training needing to kick in earlier than expected. Kalia is in an interim period, as so many of us are – in a waiting game. Kalia’s interim is between graduation and being given her posting. She will come back and tell us how it is going, once the ward work begins. Kalia also talks about the pressures of social distancing even on the spacious beaches of Norfolk, and how taking up the harp has become a fantastic new hobby that may never have happened without the social response we are needing to make to COVID19.

ENMay 14, 2020

let's talk about health

Let's Talk- ep 6: Stress, burn out, and recovery

For this podcast I am joined by James Saville, who is the Director of HR.

James talks about his own experience of stress and burn out, and from a perspective of someone who is used to achieving and operating at a senior level, and who also needs to understand work stress, not only because he manages other staff, but because as HR Director he oversees the University’s response to stress at work. James speaks with remarkable openness, warmth and personal insight as we discuss journeys into and out of burn-out, recognising signs and triggers, managing your inner chimp or critic, and noticing and receiving the support of those around you. We also talk about some of the ‘blessings’ of burn-out: learning to look after yourself, re-evaluating your priorities and wanting to do good in the world, and growing in self-knowledge and compassion.

If any of the issues in this broadcast have affected you and you’d like support, here are some helplines.

If you feel that you or someone you are with is in danger right now, please call 999

A 24/ hour emergency mental health service, Mental health assessment service us on 0131 537 6000.

· Breathing Space 0800 83 85 87 · The Samaritans 08457 90 90 90 · Edinburgh Crisis Centre 0808 801 0414

For University support

Nightline Student Counselling Service, https://www.ed.ac.uk/student-counselling Staff Counselling Service, https://www.ed.ac.uk/counselling-services/staff The Listening Service (for students and staff), chaplaincy@ed.ac.uk, 0131 650 2595

ENJanuary 07, 2020

mental health and wellbeing week

Let's Talk- ep 5: Suicidality and finding life again

In this podcast I am joined by 3rd year Medical undergraduate, Heather McAdam. We talk about the mental pain that can lead someone to try to end their life, what helps and what doesn’t help if you are feeling suicidal, or if you are supporting someone who is, and how it is possible to come through a suicide attempt into enjoying and appreciating life in a whole new way.

Heather shares some inspiring tactics that she adopted, and describes how social media was positive in her recovery, for enabling her to share feelings and insights, and to discover that she was not alone.

We talk in this podcast about transference - the ways in which we can pick up feelings from someone, such as feelings of anxiety or depression, and that those feelings are not your own and do not need to stay with

you. One way to manage transference is to talk to another person about the feelings you have noticed. You can use the University Staff or Student counselling Service or the Listening Service for this.

Please use the following information if any of the issues discussed in this podcast have affected you and you’d like support.

If you feel that you or someone you are with is in danger right now, please call 999. You can also contact the NHS 24 hour emergency mental health assessment service on 0131 537 6000.

24/7 helplines

Breathing Space: 0800 83 85 87 The Samaritans: 08457 90 90 90 Edinburgh Crisis Centre: 0808 801 0414

University support

The Advice Place Nightline Student Counselling Service Staff Counselling Service The Listening Service (for students and staff) at the Chaplaincy: chaplaincy@ed.ac.uk; 0131 650 2595

ENJanuary 07, 2020

mental health and wellbeing week

Let's Talk- ep 4: Fear of failure, perfectionism, imposter syndrome, and living life each moment

Sharing their personal experiences, and their musical tastes, in this podcast are 3rd year undergraduate Stephanie McNair, and Assistant Principal and Professor of Engineering, Alan Murray.

Together, we talk about the tyranny of perfectionism, fearing that we will fail, or that we have failed, and feeling that we are not good enough - imposter syndrome being such a common feeling that affects pretty much all of us at various times.

We also touch on aspects of grief and depression, which Stephanie and Alan brought into the conversation. And we think about how to bring positives out of the negatives: knowing that we learn a lot from the things that we have been through, and coming to appreciate living life to the full in each moment.

ENJanuary 07, 2020