Hosts: Armand DiMele

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The Blind Spot of Self-Awareness June 24, 2010

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Stephanie D'Ambra
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, Identity & The Self

When people can’t perceive their own illness or failings, the result isn’t simple denial but something deeper. Armand DiMele and Stephanie D’Ambra, LCSW, trace anosognosia from schizophrenia and stroke through everyday blindness to incompetence, exploring why the inability to see oneself is a root cause of violence, failed plans, and broken relationships.

What Drives Us June 23, 2010

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Lauren Sykes, Sherri Siegel
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, The Mind & Neuroscience

What separates the person who pursues degree after degree from one who is content to sit still? Armand DiMele and Dr. Sherry Siegel, M.D. trace motivation from hypothalamic hormones like ghrelin and leptin to subconscious drives rooted in early experience, drawing on theorists Steven Reiss and Daniel Pink along the way.

The Gifts of Neurodiversity with Dr. Thomas Armstrong June 22, 2010

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Dr. Thomas Armstrong, Stephanie D'Ambra
Category: Identity & The Self, The Mind & Neuroscience

What if autism, depression, anxiety, and ADHD carry genuine strengths alongside their challenges? Dr. Thomas Armstrong argues that reframing these conditions as brain differences rather than disorders reveals hidden gifts, and Armand and Stephanie D’Ambra, LCSW explore how safe relationships and tailored environments help neurodiverse people thrive.

Depression as Brain Overload June 17, 2010

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Depression & Mood, The Mind & Neuroscience

Depression is not weakness but a physical stress reaction triggered when the brain exhausts its supply of neurotransmitters. Armand DiMele explains the neurochemistry of collapse, the narcissistic wounds that drive suicide, and why a depressed person genuinely cannot imagine a way out. Callers share personal recoveries, including one with an MAO inhibitor.

How the Brain Evolved Emotions with Dr. Joe Ledoux June 16, 2010

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Dr. Joe Ledoux, Sherry Segal
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, The Mind & Neuroscience

Fear is not just a feeling but a hardwired survival circuit, and the brain acts on danger before the conscious mind even knows what is happening. Neuroscientist Dr. Joe Ledoux walks Armand through the amygdala’s two pathways, why emotional memories feel vivid but are often inaccurate, and why it is far easier for emotions to hijack thought than the other way around.

The Good and Bad of Venting May 6, 2010

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Stephanie D'Ambra
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, Trauma & Healing

Venting feels like relief, but does it actually help? Armand DiMele and Stephanie D’Ambra, LCSW examine research showing that rehashing trauma can deepen it neurologically, that cortisol surges from repeated venting damage the body, and that silence after trauma is often healthier than we assume.

In Pursuit of Silence with George Prochnik May 5, 2010

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: George Prochnik, Lauren Sykes, Sherri Siegel
Category: Society, Culture & Current Events, The Mind & Neuroscience

Noise is everywhere, but what does silence actually mean? Author George Prochnik joins Armand DiMele and Dr. Sherry Siegel, M.D. to explore how mechanical noise damages us cognitively and physically, why people fill quiet with sound out of fear, and how the pursuit of genuine silence can expand attention and deepen connection.

Mothers Remembered and Mourned May 4, 2010

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Family & Parenting, Grief & Loss

Mother’s Day triggers some of the deepest and most complicated feelings people carry. Armand DiMele traces the holiday’s activist origins, examines why therapists are trained to watch for crisis around it, and opens the phones to callers sharing tender memories, estrangement, infertility, and the particular ache of becoming an orphan at any age.

Exit Strategies in Love and Relationships April 29, 2010

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Identity & The Self, Love & Romantic Relationships

Most people enter relationships with an unconscious escape plan already in place. Armand DiMele argues that children, debt, sexual withdrawal, hobbies, and infidelity all serve as built-in exit strategies, and that the people who suffer most after a breakup are those who never had one.

Why We Are Drawn to Violence April 28, 2010

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Lauren Sykes, Sherri Siegel
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, The Mind & Neuroscience

Why do some people crave violent spectacle while others look away? Armand DiMele and Dr. Sherry Siegel, M.D. trace the neurochemistry behind attraction to violence, from adrenaline and cortisol surges to serotonin genetics, and propose that the real draw is not violence itself but the primal flight response and the thrill of imagined escape.