Helplessness and powerlessness are not the same thing, and the difference matters. Armand DiMele and Dr. Kent Robertshaw, MD, Psychiatrist, trace how powerlessness drives anxiety, social phobia, OCD, and addiction, while helplessness underlies depression, then offer practical steps for reclaiming a sense of agency.
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.
Toxic shame drives addiction, numbness, and violence, and Hurricane Katrina made that truth impossible to ignore. Armand DiMele and co-host Roberta Maria Atti trace how collective shame over race, poverty, and government failure sent millions into emotional deadness and substance use, and urge listeners to feel the pain rather than go numb.
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 body produces its own cannabis-like chemicals, and plants seem to have evolved to mimic them. Armand and co-host Roberta Maria Atti trace the endocannabinoid system through appetite, addiction, and the way opiates, alcohol, and tobacco all exploit receptors the nervous system built for itself, before landing on the idea that self-love is the original inner supply we keep outsourcing.
Why do people lie to themselves, and what does that cost them? Armand DiMele and guests Dr. Kent Robertshaw, MD and Stephanie D’Ambra, LCSW explore how shame, unmet needs, and fear of self-examination keep people stuck in dysfunctional patterns, and why honest self-reflection is the foundation of real change.
Armand DiMele traces impulsive behavior from everyday impulse buying and advertising to serious disorders including mania, antisocial personality, and addiction. He argues that reduced sensitivity to consequences is the common thread, and that awareness alone is a powerful first antidote.
A transit strike hits New York and Armand DiMele uses the chaos as a live laboratory, walking through how obsessive, narcissistic, sociopathic, and explosive personality types each respond to sudden disruption. Callers share raw feelings about getting to work, managing depression, and solidarity with striking workers.
Fugue states are everywhere: in drinking, meditation, marathon running, internet use, even falling in love. Armand DiMele argues that any habitual escape from the present moment is a form of dissociation, explains the neurological cost, and offers practical steps for learning to stay.
Psychological compensation drives us to mask pain rather than face it, and the fix often grows larger than the original wound. Armand DiMele and co-therapist Lisa Arnone, LCSW explore how cigarettes, painkillers, bravado, and even love choices can be coverups that reinforce the very suffering they were meant to relieve.
