Mood: Scared

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How Emotions Evolve Over a Lifetime July 13, 2011

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

Where do emotions come from, and do they follow us from childhood into old age? Armand DiMele draws on Darwin’s evolutionary theory of emotional expression and traces how traits like depression, anxiety, and hyper-excitability shift across the lifespan, with a close look at how caregiving and manic energy can spiral out of control over time.

How Emotions Change With Age July 12, 2011

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Linda Vanella
Category: Aging & Mortality, Depression & Mood

Serotonin may not cause depression after all. Armand DiMele and Linda Vanella, LCSW-R, dig into why the serotonin hypothesis is crumbling and why neurogenesis, the growth of new brain cells, may better explain how mood shifts with age and how exercise, learning, and enriched environments can counter decline.

Aging Well and Staying Independent July 6, 2011

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Dr. Bernard Starr, Linda Vanella
Category: Aging & Mortality, Depression & Mood

Most older adults are not depressed, not dependent, and not eager to move in with their children. Dr. Bernard Starr, PhD, Psychologist, joins Armand to dismantle those myths with research, and Linda Vanella, LCSW-R, weighs in on seniors who self-isolate. Hidden alcohol abuse, the loneliness of widowhood, and a bold proposal to tap elder wisdom in education all get airtime.

Addiction and Depression in the Elderly June 28, 2011

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Sherri Siegel
Category: Addiction & Compulsion, Aging & Mortality

Older adults are an overlooked population of addicts, and alcohol hits them harder than most realize. Armand DiMele and Dr. Sherry Siegel, M.D. examine late-onset substance use, the dangerous mix of alcohol and prescription medications, the leading cause of injury death in people over 65, and how to distinguish grief and sadness from clinical depression.

Elder Abuse and the Aging Society June 21, 2011

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Aging & Mortality, Society, Culture & Current Events

Aging in America leaves too many people vulnerable to harm by those they trust most. Armand DiMele breaks down the full spectrum of elder abuse, from physical and financial exploitation to neglect and rights violations, then opens the phones to callers wrestling with the real costs of caring for aging parents.

Submission Power and Learned Helplessness June 7, 2011

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Linda Vanella, Lorna Sykes
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, Identity & The Self

Submission is not always weakness. Armand DiMele and Linda Vanella, LCSW-R, map the difference between servers and peacemakers, trace learned helplessness from childhood abuse to elderly isolation, and examine how dominance hierarchies shape everything from family dynamics to corporate mergers and sexual behavior.

Betrayal Trauma and Broken Trust June 1, 2011

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

Why do we sometimes refuse to see betrayal even when it’s right in front of us? Armand DiMele examines betrayal trauma, drawing on Jennifer Freyd’s research to explain how the brain suppresses painful truths when a relationship is central to our sense of self. Callers share their own struggles with trust and control.

Depersonalization Disorder with Jeffrey Abugel April 19, 2011

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Jeffrey Abugel, Linda Vanella
Category: Anxiety & Fear, Identity & The Self

What does it feel like when your mind detaches from your body and never reconnects? Jeffrey Abugel, who lived with depersonalization disorder for decades and wrote about it, joins Armand DiMele alongside Linda Vanella, LCSW-R, to explore DPD’s causes, its links to panic and drug triggers, and its surprising overlap with spiritual concepts of ego dissolution.

Catching Anxiety Before It Peaks with Dr. Sarah Denning April 12, 2011

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Dr. Sarah Denning
Category: Anxiety & Fear, Personal Growth & Change

Anxiety is learned, measurable, and catchable before it spirals. Dr. Sarah Denning, Founder of Adaptive Behavioral Therapy, joins Armand to explain how a personal stress scale, breathing awareness, and resensitizing to subtle body signals can help people intervene at a level five before panic takes over.

How We React to Catastrophe March 16, 2011

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Amhara, Anthony, Daphne Rose Kingma, Dr. Ronald Fieve, Linda Vanella, Monroe, Pat Moffitt, Vincent
Category: Anxiety & Fear, Emotions & Inner Life

Different personalities respond to mass catastrophe in recognizably different ways: some blame, some freeze, some go numb, some take action. Armand DiMele and Linda Vanella, LCSW-R, use the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami as a lens for examining these patterns, drawing on Japanese cultural values of harmony and collective responsibility along with calls from listeners.