In this evolving online resource, we will link to contributions from those considering the implications of the coronavirus outbreak.

Click on the headlines to read the coverage. We are grateful to all those who have given their time and expertise so freely during a challenging period.

For an 'edited highlights' package which appears in our special summer edition, click here.

If you are working in this area or would like to write about research you consider of relevance, please email us on [email protected]

The British Psychological Society response

Find support and resources via

https://www.bps.org.uk/responding-coronavirus



There have been several live webinars, now hosted on the BPS YouTube channel. (including one hosted by our editor Dr Jon Sutton, 'Towards the new normal, and beyond', which you can watch by clicking the image at the top of the page or visiting http://tinyurl.com/BPSnewnormal).

"We had to bring people together"

Ella Rhodes hears from British Psychological Society President David Murphy and others about co-ordinating the BPS and frontline response.

Society comes together while apart

Ella Rhodes speaks to some of the British Psychological Society members working on its response to coronavirus.

'There are many narratives happening simultaneously, not one simple story'

Members of the British Psychological Society's Safeguarding Advisory Group consider experiences from a range of areas.

‘We can support the engagement of the wider community to develop solutions…’

Ella Rhodes reports on the British Psychological Society's efforts to provide support and guidance around coronavirus.

The public response

Don’t personalise, collectivise!

Stephen Reicher and John Drury

The two psychologies and Coronavirus

An updated and expanded consideration from Reicher and Drury, with Clifford Stott

The truth about panic

Stephen Reicher, John Drury and Clifford Stott on narratives around buying.

We are dynamite

Our editor Jon Sutton reports from Professor Stephen Reicher's opening keynote at the British Psychological Society's online 2020 Conference.

'What is remarkable about what we've achieved is that it's unremarkable'

Carl Walker seeks to make sense of the mutual aid response to coronavirus, and how to sustain it in an era of entrenched inequality.

The outbreak shows us the psychological makeup of our society

Dr Evangelos Ntontis Lecturer in Social Psychology (Canterbury Christ Church University)

OK, Not-OK in times of pandemic

Giovanni Felice Pace takes an existential perspective.

How will you help to sustain collective efficacy?

Daniella Watson has personally and professionally been part of the collective response to Covid-19.

Can we make jokes about coronavirus?

Sophie Scott on the time for humour in response to crisis.

'Resilience requires those in authority to be honest, open and consistent'

Chris Cocking on the dangers if 'we're in this together' feels like empty rhetoric.

Corporate volunteering – more than 'good for goodness sake'

Nishat Babu on benefits for employer and employee.

Collective emotions and Covid-19

Gavin Brent Sullivan (Centre for Trust Peace and Social Relations, Coventry University).

Led by the science?

‘All interventions must stand up to scientific scrutiny’

Ella Rhodes hears from Professor Brooke Rogers OBE

Social psychology of the coronavirus: Will flies save us?

Olivier Klein on the role of 'nudge theory' in the UK government response.

Informing and translating the evidence base

Susan Michie

'We need a certain amount of humility'

We hear from Stuart Ritchie about his concerns around the communication of psychological research during the coronavirus crisis.

Keep calm, and listen to the experts

Chris Keyworth

Vaccinating against viruses of the mind

David Robson on psychological efforts to achieve ‘herd immunity’ against the spread of misinformation in pandemic times.

Covid-19 and the media

Our journalist Ella Rhodes reports from a panel discussion at the British Psychological Society's online annual conference.

10 lessons for dealing with a pandemic

...from Jolanda Jetten, Stephen Reicher, Alex Haslam and Tegan Cruwys.

Teaching Assistants are pivotal to a successful catch-up strategy

Rob Webster unravels the evidence behind the Department for Education's Covid guidance on deploying teaching assistants.

The virus itself

‘We will have to live with the risk of Covid-19… but Psychology has much to say about that risk’

Kavita Vedhara on the fascinating world of vaccine adjuvants and more.

Is loss of smell an early diagnostic indicator of COVID-19?

Evelina Thunell, Asifa Majid and Johan N. Lundström

How do we ensure the responsible and practical use of PPE?

Sandra Lovell on the place of Personal Protective Equipment in safety controls for Covid-19.

Coronavirus: why prison conditions can be a perfect storm for spreading disease

Anita Mehay (Research Fellow and Health Psychologist, UCL), Jane Ogden (Professor of Health Psychology, University of Surrey) and Rosie Meek (Professor of Criminology & Psychology, Royal Holloway).

‘The patients are just so sick…’

A Consultant Clinical Psychologist in Wales’ largest Intensive Care Unit in Cardiff, Dr Julie Highfield led the BPS Covid-19 Coordinating Group’s staff wellbeing work and has recently taken up a secondment with the Intensive Care Society as its National Project Director for Wellbeing. Ella Rhodes spoke to her.

Lockdown living

Positive pandemic?

Jennifer E. Symonds considers whether lockdown can actually improve your mental health and wellbeing.

'Supported isolation is likely to be particularly stressful'

Our journalist Ella Rhodes spoke to Dr Holly Carter and Dr Dale Weston, Public Health England.

Keeping your sense of meaning during lockdown

Rhi Wilmott

School's really out…

Naomi Fisher with an update to her recent article.

It's (virtual) happy hour again

Emma Davies and James Morris on alcohol during isolation.

All in this together?

Dominic Conroy and Emily Nicholls on health behaviour changes during and beyond lockdown.

The last pleasure?

Sharon Cox argues that now is not the time to afford smoking tacit approval.

What does the pandemic mean for gender equality?

Terri Apter writes; including a 'part two' on work-life balance.

Coronavirus and obsessive-type conditions

Craig Jackson is concerned for those who already have issues with handwashing.

Coping with life in isolation and confinement during the Covid-19 outbreak

Nathan Smith and Emma Barrett look to extreme environments for tips. See also their 'Support the workers' initiative, with many other experts in disaster response, crisis psychology and more.

Transitions with the Aging Rebels

Nancy K. Schlossberg with a personal and professional perspective on pandemic transitions for more senior people.

Keeping our distance

Holly Carter, Dale Weston, Clifford Stott, and Richard Amlôt on evidence-based strategies to promote adherence to COVID-19 social distancing measures.

'Can we go home now?'

Lauren Jenner on how experiences of the pandemic can help those without autism relate to those on the autism spectrum.

FlowUnlocked in East London

Dr Georgia Pavlopoulou, with the help of Jon Adams and Briony Campbell, reflects on a UCL-funded project to explore autistic people’s relationships during and after the lockdown.

Researching during the crisis

How psychology researchers are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic

Matthew Warren for our Research Digest.

‘A high stakes version of Groundhog Day’

Matthew Warren, editor of our Research Digest, with an update on the research response to Covid-19, and the issues raised.

Family research just got harder… and more important

Bonamy Oliver and Alison Pike on the need for study, how pandemic measures have affected it, and a possible solution.

'It felt vain and tone deaf to care about my PhD at all'

Emma Smith on the challenges of ongoing research during a global crisis.

RAMPing up a multidisciplinary understanding of Covid-19 impact

The Repeated Assessment of Mental health in Pandemics (RAMP) Study.

The frontline

'There is a balance between their fears and their sense of duty'

Ella Rhodes hears from Dr Julie Highfield about supporting intensive care units.

When two worlds collide: values and morality

Janice Smith on the challenges of an acceptance-based approach with frontline health staff.



Bereavement and loss

When the world is grieving, don’t walk on eggshells

Health Psychologist Angel Chater has spoken openly about bereavement over the last two decades. Here, she urges society to recognise and be open about loss.

Grieving at a social distance

Angelina Archer on bereavement during the coronavirus pandemic.

‘I asked Laura what she thought happens after death…’

Claudia Nielsen shines a light on the taboo subject of post-mortem consciousness.

‘The more who die, the less we care’

Our editor Jon Sutton on Professor Paul Slovic’s keynote at the British Psychological Society’s online conference, which had implications for the current crisis.

Ella Rhodes hears from those working on bereavement during the pandemic and beyond.

Making meaning, and making art

Making meaning in the midst of threat

Erin Beal on terror management and moving beyond existential crisis in ‘unprecedented times’.

Mental health literature in the time of coronavirus

Jerome Carson and colleagues on 'first person' accounts.

The virtue to survive

Nisha Pushpararajah with a personal perspective grounded in collectivism.

Tales of the unexpected

Sue Shea and Robin Wynyard on the 'day after', and whether major psychological theories are fit for purpose in such unusual times.

Cultivating wellbeing and mental health through gardening

Vaithehy Shanmuganathan-Felton, Luke Felton, Celia Briseid and Betty Maitland.

'Every stitch and row is a small win'

Lynne Rothwell on the benefits of knitting and other crafts during lockdown.

Health Psychologist Karen Rodham gets creative during lockdown. Me, myself and I

Nicholas Sarantakis draws at the ‘crossroads of the unconscious’.

The ambiguous crossroad

Imogen Mathews reflects on the themes and evidence underlying her artwork.

A rich visual language

Andréa Watts on taking a 'coaching through collage' tool online.

To sit it out or dance…

Natalia Braun on 'creatively adjusting' to the pandemic through rhythm and movement.

Bottling moments as a vaccine against inhumanity

Kevin Dutton on a creative collaboration with the cartoonist Rob Murray.