Podcast: Pandemic mental health, hidden strengths and severe morning sickness

In this edition: Exploring pandemic mental health, comparing spaceflight and frontline NHS work, and linking severe morning sickness with depression.

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News: The toll of the first wave and bringing the Festival online – We discover how the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic affected deaths from all causes, and look forward to the Great Exhibition Road Festival moving online with the launch of a new art project.

Youth mental health during the pandemic – We speak to Dr Lindsay Dewa, who is part of a project to find out how young people coped during the COVID-19 lockdown, and whether their coping strategies have changed over time.

Comparing spaceflight and surgery – Astronaut Helen Sharman chats to trainee surgeon Dr Derek Yeung, comparing notes on the challenges and triumphs of spaceflight and working on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is an excerpt from the Hidden Strengths podcast series, created by PanSurg, where healthcare staff share their experiences of adversity and perseverance with key figures.

Extreme morning sickness and depression – We talk to Nicola Mitchell-Jones, who recently found that hyperemesis gravidarum – an extreme form of morning sickness – often causes depression during and after pregnancy, which is rarely followed up.

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The podcast is presented by Gareth Mitchell, a lecturer on Imperial's MSc Science Communication course and the presenter of Digital Planet on the BBC World Service, with contributions from our roving reporters in the Communications and Public Affairs Division.