Personal timing, the inner rhythm that governs how we move through life, is more powerful and more invisible than most people realize. Armand DiMele, with co-hosts Giullian Gioiello and Ben Starr, explores how timing shapes acting, romance, aging, and even why grandparents push for grandchildren.
Loneliness is not about needing someone else but about needing yourself. Armand DiMele examines this through caller stories, statistics on elderly isolation, and a discussion of how online communities, television, and spiritual connection serve as substitutes for genuine self-acceptance.
Late-life depression may double the risk of vascular dementia and raise Alzheimer’s risk by 65%. Armand DiMele surveys the research on cortisol, the hippocampus, and the toxic brain effects of chronic depression, then argues for a radical reframe: Alzheimer’s may be harder on caregivers than on those living it. Co-host Giullian Gioiello joins the conversation.
Armand DiMele and Linda Vanella, LCSW-R, take Max Ehrmann’s “Desiderata” line by line, testing each piece of wisdom against real life. The episode argues that genuine new thinking beats hollow resolutions, and that many fears are simply born of fatigue and loneliness.
Armand DiMele and Linda Vanella, LCSW-R, use the prose poem “Desiderata” as a springboard for the new year, pushing back on its platitudes while extracting real wisdom about fear born from fatigue, gracefully letting go of youth, staying curious, and being gentle with yourself.
Life does get better for most people, and Armand explores why with Dr. Kent Robertshaw, MD, Psychiatrist, and Linda Vanella, LCSW-R. Three forces drive improvement over time: burnout from exhausting old patterns, learning to manage triggers, and growing self-acceptance. Psychiatric advances, caller stories about ambivalent relationships, and the transformative love of parenthood all figure in.
Old fears and bad habits you thought you conquered have a way of coming back. Armand DiMele and Linda Vanella, LCSW-R, explore why hard-won mental health gains can expire, from the AA concept of the “pink cloud” to the brain’s drive to keep aging people alert through worry, arguing that avoidance, not cure, is usually what we mistake for progress.
Why do problems we thought we solved come back? Armand DiMele and Linda Vanella, LCSW-R, examine why hard-won psychological gains fade over time, from the AA concept of the pink cloud to the body’s biological drive to reactivate old fears as we age. Callers share their own experiences of recurring fears and family estrangement.
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.
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.
