Every living creature seeks altered states, from caffeine-loving goats to alcohol-raiding elephants. Armand DiMele and guest Ed Elkin, a longtime humanistic psychology colleague living in a shamanic community in California, trace how psychedelics open perceptual doors that yoga, meditation, and creativity can then walk through without chemicals.
Prolactin, dopamine, and serotonin shape your mood, sex drive, and sleep far more than your conscious choices do. Armand DiMele explains how post-orgasmic prolactin surge explains the sleep-after-sex dynamic, why falling asleep to a flashing TV rewires your brain, and how sugar sabotages rest. Caller Adam’s relationship tension brings the biochemistry home.
The PTSD diagnosis has been stretched so far that almost anyone can qualify. Armand DiMele traces the term from Civil War battle fatigue to 9/11 relief clinics, unpacking the three core symptoms and arguing that real trauma is rarer, and more specific, than the culture now assumes.
Stealing and deception are woven into nature itself, Armand argues, from camouflaged fish to scavenging hyenas. He traces human larceny from petty office theft to billing fraud, and explores why people who steal against their own values end up punishing themselves more than anyone else does.
Curiosity is a survival skill. Armand DiMele and co-host Roberta Maria Atti use a near-fatal drug interaction between Effexor and triptans to argue that patients who research their own conditions protect themselves in ways that physicians and pharmacies often fail to. The conversation ranges from mold under a microscope to the mechanics of serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
What does a healthy mind actually look like? Armand DiMele and three colleagues, including Dr. Kent Robertshaw, MD, psychiatrist, and Dr. Scott Baum, PhD, psychologist, debate sanity, emotional complexity, and self-acceptance. They challenge the idea that primitive feeling equals health, and argue that genuine sanity demands refined introspection, not just the absence of symptoms.
Coming to a new country often means carrying trauma, losing language fluency under stress, and navigating a system that can feel hostile or invisible. Armand DiMele and Gestalt therapist and immigration psychologist Didem Atahan examine the psychological toll of displacement, the barriers immigrants face seeking help, and the legal protections many don’t know they have.
OCD is a physical brain disorder, not just a behavioral one. Armand DiMele and Stephanie D’Ambra, LCSW, examine the neural circuitry behind obsessive loops, explain why stuck thought patterns generate what Armand calls “brain burn,” and offer practical strategies for manually shifting gears to break the cycle.
We unconsciously seek partners who recreate the emotional dynamics of our childhood homes, not the people themselves but the feelings they produce. Sandra Reischus, author of the book of the same name, joins Armand to unpack why comfort zones in love are often traps, and how psychotherapy rewires those early patterns.
What derails an otherwise simple conversation? Armand DiMele argues the culprit is usually physiology, not psychology. Drawing on the autonomic nervous system, he traces how sympathetic overload turns minor irritations into blowups, and teaches listeners to self-monitor their nervous state before engaging the people they love.
