Category: Depression & Mood

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The Psychology of Heart Disease with Dr. Austin Hayes November 7, 2006

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Dr. Austin Hayes
Category: Depression & Mood, The Mind & Neuroscience

Chronic stress, hostility, and depression are stronger predictors of heart disease than most people realize, accounting for a significant share of cardiac risk. Dr. Austin Hayes, a clinical psychologist working with cardiac patients at Mount Sinai, explains how personality, social isolation, and loss of control drive heart disease and how optimism and support speed recovery.

The Hidden Face of Male Depression October 31, 2006

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Kent Robertshaw
Category: Depression & Mood, Identity & The Self

Men’s depression is vastly underdiagnosed because it rarely looks like sadness. Armand DiMele and Dr. Kent Robertshaw, MD, Psychiatrist, argue that aggression, dominance, substance abuse, and compulsive drivenness are often depression in disguise, and that treating them as such could change everything.

The Ghosts We Keep Alive August 15, 2006

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Depression & Mood, Emotions & Inner Life

Why do certain people, places, and memories haunt us long after they’re gone? Armand DiMele argues that ghosts serve a function: they keep us from sinking into depression by giving us a focus outside ourselves. Callers share their own ghost stories, revealing how anger, longing, and comparison all sustain these invisible presences.

The Psychology of Thinness with Roberta Maria July 5, 2006

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Roberta Maria Acchi
Category: Depression & Mood, Emotions & Inner Life

Thinness is socially prized but psychologically understudied. Armand DiMele and nutritionist Roberta Maria dig into the BMI research linking low body weight to higher suicide risk and lower serotonin, then argue that extreme thinness is a ‘being disorder’ as much as an eating disorder, one that rarely gets the clinical attention it deserves.

How Breathing Controls Our Emotions June 14, 2006

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Neil Schachter, Roberta Maria Atti
Category: Depression & Mood, Emotions & Inner Life

Shallow breathing is not a flaw but a learned survival tool: we suppress emotions by constricting breath, and chronic shallow breathing can deaden sensation, deepen depression, and fuel psychosomatic illness. Armand DiMele and co-host Roberta Maria Atti caution against the easy advice to “just breathe deeper,” explaining why opening the breath can flood the body with overwhelming feeling.

The Genetics of Resilience May 2, 2006

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Kevin O'Donoghue
Category: Depression & Mood, The Mind & Neuroscience

Why do some people bounce back from trauma while others stay broken? Armand DiMele traces resilience to genetics, specifically the 5-HTTLPR serotonin transporter gene, exploring how allele variations shape depression risk across individuals and racial groups, with callers sharing their own struggles to recover.

Psychiatric Medication with Dr. Kent Robertshaw April 20, 2006

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Kent Robertshaw
Category: Anxiety & Fear, Depression & Mood

Armand DiMele and Dr. Kent Robertshaw, MD, Psychiatrist, walk through the landscape of psychiatric medications, from why Prozac reshaped treatment to how a psychiatrist actually chooses between antidepressants based on symptoms. They cover OCD, paranoia, psychosis, and the tension between medication and talk therapy.

Why Depressives Respond to Pain Not Pleasure April 6, 2006

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Depression & Mood, Emotions & Inner Life

Depression is not a benign mood but an active, brain-damaging condition, and cheering someone up is the wrong approach. Armand DiMele explains why depressed people respond to pain and negativity rather than pleasure, and how validating rather than contradicting a depressed person can open a way through.

The Evolutionary Roots of Depression with Roberta Maria Acchi April 5, 2006

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Roberta Maria Acchi
Category: Depression & Mood, The Mind & Neuroscience

Depression may be a biological strategy shaped by evolution, not merely a pathology. Armand DiMele and guest Roberta Maria Acchi examine rank theory, the biochemistry of winning and losing, why men hide depression, how oppressed groups are kept docile, and how blocked creative potential rewires the nervous system toward low mood.

The Noonday Demon with Andrew Solomon April 1, 2006

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Andrew Solomon
Category: Depression & Mood, The Mind & Neuroscience

Andrew Solomon, author of ‘The Noonday Demon,’ joins Armand DiMele to explore how depression escalates across repeated episodes, why agitated depression is especially dangerous, what cortisol does to brain cells over time, and why our screen-saturated, sleep-deprived culture may be quietly fueling an epidemic.