Not Fixed, Still here

Send us Fan MailWas I always going to be like this?It's the question that shows up at 3am. When nothing else is working. Somewhere between despair and accusation.This episode goes looking for a real answer — not reassurance, not false hope, but what the science actually says.We go into genetics and what heritability really means for depression and anxiety. We go into epigenetics—the genuinely significant discovery that chronic stress and early experience can change how genes are expressed without changing your DNA. And we go into neuroplasticity—what the evidence shows about the brain's capacity to change and what that means for the question of whether any of this is fixed.This is the most scientifically complex episode in the series so far. It doesn't offer a clean answer. But it offers something more honest than the question you started with.Not Fixed, Still Here. Episode 4.If anything in this episode brought something up for you, support is available 24/7. Call or text 988 or text HOME to 741741.Genetics & Heritability Tabrizi et al.—Heritability and polygenic load for comorbid anxiety and depression—Translational Psychiatry (March 2025) Wray et al.—Genome-wide association analyses identify 44 risk variants for major depression—Nature Genetics (2018) Adams et al.—Genome-wide study of major depression in 685,808 diverse individuals—medRxiv (2024) Molecular Psychiatry — Genetic nurture effects in depressive and anxiety disorders (2025) Epigenetics Kretzschmar, Boldt, Targa — The genetics and epigenetics of mental health — Frontiers in Genetics (April 2024) Franklin et al.—Epigenetic regulation of brain development, plasticity, and response to early-life stress—Neuropsychopharmacology (2025) Talarowska — Epigenetic mechanisms in the neurodevelopmental theory of depression — PMC (2020) Frontiers in Psychiatry — From trauma to depression: epigenetic and molecular pathways (2025) Frontiers in Psychiatry — Clinical use of epigenetics in psychiatry (2025) Neuroplasticity Huizenga, Neuroplasticity and mental health: implications for depression and anxiety treatment, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience (2025) Radulescu, Dragoi, Trifu—Neuroplasticity and depression: rewiring the brain's networks—Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine—PMC (2021) Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences — The dynamic brain: neuroplasticity and mental health (2012 / updated 2025) Axis Mental Health—How neuroplasticity improves mental health (2026) Crisis Resources — Include in Every Episode Description Call or text 988 — Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (24/7, free, confidential) Text HOME to 741741 — Crisis Text Line (24/7, free, confidential) Support the show

Send us Fan MailThe origins of CBT through Aaron Beck’s challenge to psychoanalysis summarize where CBT’s evidence base is strongest and examine how CBT became a system default in the UK—sometimes mismatched to complex trauma presentations. The episode closes by distinguishing PTSD vs. complex PTSD evidence, raising concerns about “unthinking” default application, and pointing listeners toward alternative/adjunct approaches and the next episode’s focus on biology/genetics/epigenetics/neuroplasticity.Show Notes: Primary Sources—CBT Origins & History Beck, J. & Fleming, S.—Aaron (Tim) Beck MD—British Journal of Psychiatry (2022) Beck, J. & Fleming, S. — A Brief History of Aaron T. Beck MD and CBT — Clinical Psychology in Europe (2021) American Journal of Psychotherapy — Aaron Beck obituary (2021) StatPearls / NIH — Cognitive Behavior Therapy — NCBI Bookshelf (updated 2023) Beck Institute — History of CBT — beckinstitute.org (2023) NHS Access & Waiting Time Data NHS England — Mental Health Access and Waiting Time Standards (2024) Nuffield Trust — NHS Talking Therapies (IAPT) Programme Statistics CQC—State of Care 2024/25: Mental Health Access (2025) Royal College of Psychiatrists — NHS Therapy Waiting Times (December 2024) Money and Mental Health — Improving Wait Times for Mental Health Services (2025) House of Commons Library — Mental Health Statistics: prevalence, services and funding (2024) CBT Effectiveness & Limitations — Peer-Reviewed Research BJPsych Advances — CBT for Complex PTSD (2024) Frontiers in Psychology — Psychotherapy for CPTSD: efficacy and therapeutic factors (2026) ScienceDirect — Efficacy of psychological interventions for CPTSD: meta-analysis (2025) PMC—Recognition of neurobiological insults from complex trauma and implications for psychotherapy—CNS Neuroscience & Therapeutics (2015) World Psychiatry—PTSD: evolving conceptualisation and evidence—Brewin (2025) Crisis Resources—Include in Every Episode Description Call or text 988—Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (24/7, free, confidential) Text HOME to 741741—Crisis Text Line (24/7, free, confidential).Support the show

Send us Fan MailYou are not as alone as it has felt.Nearly one in three adults in England and Wales experienced some form of childhood abuse before the age of eighteen. That is 13.6 million people—according to the most recent Crime Survey for England and Wales.But statistics can count people. They cannot hold them.In this episode we look at what the data actually shows about the lifetime prevalence of childhood abuse — and more importantly, what it doesn't and can't capture about what it means to live inside those numbers as an adult.This episode covers childhood abuse, long-term mental health outcomes, and the gap between official data and lived experience. Please take care of yourself as you listen.If anything in this episode brought something up for you, support is available 24/7. Call or text 988, text HOME to 741741, or contact NAPAC at 0808 801 0331—a free support line for adult survivors of childhood abuse.Sources:Primary Data Sources Office for National Statistics — Abuse during childhood in England and Wales: March 2024 (published November 2025) NAPAC — Key Facts and Figures 2025 — napac.org.uk/key-facts-figures CSA Centre — Child sexual abuse in 2023-24: Trends in official data (March 2025) Peer-Reviewed Research Hailes et al.—Long-term outcomes of childhood sexual abuse: an umbrella review—The Lancet Psychiatry (2019) Cleece & Hill — Sexual abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder in childhood, adolescence and young adulthood — Journal of Family & Child Health (2025) 1958 British Birth Cohort — Child maltreatment associations with developmental trajectories and long-term outcomes — PMC (2020) Latiff et al.—A systematic review of factors associated with disclosure of child sexual abuse—Child Abuse & Neglect (2024) Crisis Resources — Include in Every Episode Description Call or text 988—Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (24/7, free, confidential) Text HOME to 741741—Crisis Text Line (24/7, free, confidential) NAPAC — 0808 801 0331 — Free support line for adult survivors of childhood abuse Support the show

Send us Fan MailWhat does it mean to spend twenty years trying to understand your own mind — not just cope with it, but actually understand it?This is Episode 1 of Not Fixed, Still Here. Before the science, before the frameworks, before anything else—this episode is about why this show exists, who it's for, and what you can expect from it.We cover what mental health actually looks like in the numbers — and what the numbers don't capture. We go into the neuroscience of what chronic stress and early adversity do to a developing brain. And we establish the one thing this show will never do: wrap it up too cleanly.Not Fixed, Still Here is for anyone who is intellectually curious, emotionally exhausted, and done being handed easy answers.If that's you, welcome.If anything in this episode brought something up for you, support is available 24/7. Call or text 988 or text HOME to 741741—free, confidential, any time.Support the show

Send us Fan MailA 41-second introduction to Not Fixed, Still Here — what this show is, why it exists, and who it's for.Not Fixed, Still Here launches [8th of May]. A podcast about mental health, all of it grounded in science and shaped by lived experience. Episode 1 drops fortnightly. If you or someone you know is struggling, support is available 24/7. Call or text 988 or text HOME to 741741.Support the show: https://buymeacoffee.com/notfixedstillhereSupport the show