Category: Emotions & Inner Life

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Mood Modification and Addiction August 16, 2006

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Kent Robertshaw
Category: Addiction & Compulsion, Emotions & Inner Life

Every addiction is really a mood management strategy. Armand and Dr. Kent Robertshaw, MD, Psychiatrist, walk through the core components of addiction, salience, mood modification, tolerance, and withdrawal, using gambling, shopping, cigarettes, alcohol, and internet use to show why substances and screens feel easier than people, and what actually helps someone stop.

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 Power of Kindness August 1, 2006

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, Personal Growth & Change

Kindness is framed not as a soft sentiment but as evolutionary glue and a cornerstone of sanity. Armand DiMele maps the virtues of a well-balanced person and argues that fear, envy, greed, and jealousy, the classic deadly sins, are precisely what block us from genuine, give-without-getting kindness.

Knowing When to Leave July 6, 2006

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Communication & Conflict, Emotions & Inner Life

Most decisions to leave, whether a job, a relationship, a therapist, or a church, are driven by unexpressed anger rather than genuine incompatibility. Armand DiMele argues that learning to voice what bothers you is nearly always the alternative to walking away, and that unspoken resentment turned inward becomes depression.

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.

The Language of Touch and Body June 29, 2006

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Communication & Conflict, Emotions & Inner Life

Words are often the worst way to communicate. Armand DiMele surveys the full spectrum of nonverbal language, from somatic cues like blushing and blanching to personal space, paralanguage, gesture, and adornment, then turns to the science of touch and why Americans are so confused about it.

The Power of Human Touch June 28, 2006

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Dr. Neil Shatka, Jean Liedloff, Roberta Maria Atti
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, Personal Growth & Change

Without touch, infants die and adults wither. Armand and co-host Roberta Maria Atti trace the evolutionary roots of touch from homunculus brain maps to the Tellington method, while examining how American culture’s deep ambivalence about physical contact has produced high rates of child beatings and low rates of nurturing affection. Jean Liedloff, Author, whose Amazon fieldwork inspired the previous episode, hovers over the discussion.

The Fear of Being Punished June 22, 2006

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Anxiety & Fear, Emotions & Inner Life

A deep fear of punishment lurks beneath nearly every psychological disorder, Armand argues. From hypochondria to phobias to infidelity secrets, the expectation of being punished shapes behavior in ways most people never examine. Callers raised in alcoholic homes illustrate how childhood chaos instills this fear early.

The Weight of Secrets June 21, 2006

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, Trauma & Healing

Secrets shape us from childhood onward, and keeping them can quietly corrode a life. Armand DiMele invites listeners to call in and unburden themselves on air, drawing out stories of sexual abuse, infidelity, addiction, and shame, and exploring why telling the truth, even to a stranger, brings relief.

Heat Stress and the Body June 20, 2006

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, The Mind & Neuroscience

Summer heat does more than make us sweat. Armand DiMele takes calls from listeners struggling with panic attacks, hot flashes, and depression triggered by high temperatures, tracing physical symptoms to hormonal and chemical factors while connecting heat stress to the emotional weight of controlling parents and distant wars.