What a crazy 36 hours (and counting)! A mad airport sprint, an unexpected university housemate reunion, a medical emergency delaying take-off, and AMAZING news from the US! 🇺🇸🙂 Now in Shanghai, watching day turn to night. Pure photographic heaven!
Daryl O’Connor
@daryloconnor.bsky.social
Professor of Psychology, University of Leeds. Views are my own. Editor, Cogent Psychology. Associate Editor, Biopsychosocial Science & Medicine. Laboratory for Stress & Health Research https://sites.google.com/site/doconnorlab/
A sensible and balanced article on the recent developments and discussions around autism, diagnosis and labels www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
‘The term is becoming unrecognisable’: have the experts who believed in a single autism spectrum changed their minds?
There has been a steep rise in the number of people labelled autistic over the last 20 years. Is that down to greater understanding – or overdiagnosis?
theguardian.com
On World Mental Health Day, let’s shine a light on stress — the silent threat to both our physical and mental health. Recognising the signs, understanding the impact, and taking action early can make all the difference. youtube.com/@starlab_uol...
STARLab_University of Leeds
The Laboratory for Stress and Health Research (STARlab) is led by Professor Daryl O'Connor who is based at the School of Psychology, University of Leeds (UK) and is part of the larger Health & Social ...
youtube.com
Great interview with Peter Fonagy on BBC Radio 4 & elsewhere. Clear message: Increases in mental distress in young people are real, but there is need for national standards in assessment for autism and ADHD (& more early support required). Time for action www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
NHS at risk of ‘system failures’ as demand for ADHD and autism care soars, inquiry finds
England-focused review led by Prof Peter Fonagy returns stark warning and calls for shift to ‘needs-led’ system
theguardian.com
“How do we talk about suicide?” Excellent event last night as part of the Leeds International Festival of Ideas with a great panel including @roryoc.bsky.social, Roman Kemp and others, brilliantly chaired by Amy Irons. Thoughtful, emotional & handled with incredible care and sensitivity.
Sad news. Esther Rantzen has died. What an incredible human, and a matchless campaigner. The world needs more Esther Rantzens. #RIP www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cq...
Dame Esther Rantzen dies aged 86
Her family paid tribute to her in a statement calling her the "most wonderful mother" and a "cherished grandmother".
bbc.co.uk
Excellent conference speech by @andyburnham.bsky.social. Full of vision, optimism, honesty & exciting policies. Not least the landmark proposal for a National Care Service. #Labour2026 #LabourConference2026
Great interview by the PM on @laurak.bsky.social but can someone brief @andyburnham.bsky.social that the Good Friday Agreement will be 30 years old in 2028 and not next year :-).
INSPECT-SR – a tool for assessing the trustworthiness of randomized controlled trials – has been published today in @bmj.com, giving researchers a structured way to identify problematic studies before they're included in systematic reviews. 🔗 www.cochrane.org/about-us/new... #ResearchIntegrity
An excellent inaugural University of Leeds School of Psychology Annual Research Lecture delivered by Bhismadev Chakrabarti entitled “Autism in and outside the lab: Insights from social reward responsivity”. An impressive programme of important research
Interested in the psychology of persuasion? Then check out this neat paper by my colleague, Keven Joyal-Desmarais on motivational matching-based persuasion. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
I’m back as studio guest with the brilliant Claudia Hammond in the latest episode of BBC Radio 4’s All in the Mind. We explore how music affects the brain, the effects of slow-paced breathing and much more. And there’s a very special celebrity guest too… 👀 www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Current ‘outside’ office view - Isaac Newton @ the British Library
Excellent presentations today by two of our brilliant PhD students at the 40th European Health Psychology Society in Paphos. Well done Ellen Frost and Sophie Höfels :-). #ehps2026
Beautiful location for the 40th European Health Psychology Society conference in Paphos and brilliant opening keynote by @profjanewalsh.bsky.social. An exciting rest of week beckons……#EHPS2026
Pulp were simply outstanding in Manchester last night :-)
Definition of childish tantrum: the words “Lake America” ;-)
A balanced, sensible and useful article on the debate around how autism is defined. Thoughtful and nuanced - well worth a read. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
A split in the spectrum? The ongoing battle to define autism
There is a continuing row over whether it matters if such a broad spectrum of people are defined as having autism
bbc.co.uk
US Senator Jon Ossoff @ossoff.bsky.social is my new favourite politician :-). Asking all the right questions & doing his best to hold the current administration to account. Keep up the good work!
This was on my to-read list, then annual leave got in the way. "When Psychology Went to War With Itself" by @minzlicht.bsky.social I remember these crazy days well...... www.speakandregret.michaelinzlicht.com/p/the-replic...
When Psychology Went to War With Itself
A month ago, someone shoved me into a time machine.
speakandregret.michaelinzlicht.com
Desperately sad news. Here’s hoping lessons can be learned and some good can come out of this awful tragedy. RIP Jason Arday.
Great work @countbinface.bsky.social. And well done for turning up to the results, unlike the cowardly leader of Reform.
Count Binface@countbinface.bsky.social · 3mo agoI came first in the Clacton by-election! Of the candidates who bothered to turn up for the results. Here is my victory speech!
It breaks all the rules, but this Irish Coffee, Dominican Republic style, ages (within minutes) rather well 😞.
Holiday read #4 is shaping up nicely 🙂 I’ve watched many of the docs & read quite a bit on Scientology, but wow, the fundamentals are even more bonkers than I’d realised, as is Hubbard’s (alleged) highly questionable backstory. The psychology of high-control groups makes for fascinating reading.
This is very cool. Our latest paper is the 6 millionth index by APA PsycInfo :-) www.linkedin.com/posts/effect...
APA PsycNet | APA Publishing
Today, an article in Health Psychology—"Effects of self-compassion on stress and health behaviors in daily life: A randomized controlled trial"—marks the 6 millionth record indexed in APA PsycInfo. AP...
linkedin.com
Holiday read #1 done - and my first foray into Kindle-dom 😊. Another excellent book by Suzanne O’Sullivan, making a compelling case against overdiagnosis and the risks of over-medicalisation. Plenty of food for thought, all while enjoying the Dominican Republic climes.
