How is mental “illness” a real thing? What causes people to experience psychological distress? According to our guest Professor Peter Kinderman, approximately 95% of the variation in experiences of people diagnosed with depression, anxiety and other forms of psychological distress is explained by differing social factors, with only 5% of the variance explained genetic differences.

Professor Kinderman is a former President of the British Psychological Society, an academic at the University of Liverpool and a practising clinical psychologist. In this episode, which is part one of a three part series on the social drivers of mental health, we learn how referring to psychological distress as an "illness" or a "disease" may not only be technically inaccurate, but can create barriers to better collective health and wellbeing. 

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