Keyword: anxiety

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Childhood Fantasies and the Need for Significance April 23, 2009

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Anxiety & Fear, Identity & The Self

Feeling insignificant is not just painful, it triggers the same survival anxiety our ancestors felt when cast out of the group. Armand DiMele connects the amygdala’s panic response to a deep need to matter, then takes calls from listeners whose childhood dreams of fame, travel, and service all point back to the same hunger for acknowledgment.

The Problem with Courage April 16, 2009

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Anxiety & Fear, Emotions & Inner Life

Armand DiMele challenges the conventional praise of courage, asking whether it is genuinely virtuous or a way of shaming people whose fear is entirely reasonable. He introduces counterphobia, the impulse to charge toward what frightens us most, and explores with callers how fear, avoidance, and self-nurturing shape daily life.

The Compulsion to Organize April 2, 2009

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Sherri Siegel
Category: Anxiety & Fear, The Mind & Neuroscience

Why do scattered people suddenly need to line up the ducks? Armand DiMele and guest Dr. Sherry Siegel, M.D. trace the spectrum from everyday tidying impulses to obsessive-compulsive disorder, examining the biology of doubt, the genetics of compulsive behavior, and why nightmares may all be, at root, about organizing chaos.

Fear and Depression in Hard Economic Times March 24, 2009

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Anxiety & Fear, Depression & Mood

When financial security collapses, the brain shifts from optimism to panic, and people tumble between regret about the past and dread of the future. Armand DiMele traces how economic hardship drives depression, hedonism, and isolation, then takes calls from listeners dealing with fresh grief, cancer, loneliness, and the sting of plans that never paid off.

Four Steps to Peace of Mind with Dr. Henry Kellerman March 11, 2009

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Dr. Bernard Starr, Dr. Henry Kellerman
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, Personal Growth & Change

Can psychological symptoms be resolved in four steps? Dr. Bernard Starr, PhD, Psychologist, guest-hosts and interviews psychoanalyst Dr. Henry Kellerman, whose book argues that every symptom traces back to unconscious rage over blocked wishes. They unpack the four-step symptom code, contrast psychoanalytic and behavioral approaches, and discuss how identifying hidden anger can dissolve phobias and obsessive thoughts.

The Perfectionist Personality Under Stress November 13, 2008

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Anxiety & Fear, Identity & The Self

Rigid, perfectionistic people crack hardest when life goes wrong, and Armand DiMele explains why. He distinguishes OCD from obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, showing how the desperate need to be right drives indecision, relationship conflict, explosive anger, and hoarding, and how admitting fallibility is the way out.

The Fear of Being Rejected July 16, 2008

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Anxiety & Fear, Emotions & Inner Life

Rejection is wired into our DNA as a survival mechanism, but some people’s rejection radar is far too sensitive, turning minor slights into emotional crises. Armand DiMele traces rejection sensitivity from evolutionary roots to modern overpraise culture, body image anxiety, and the self-fulfilling prophecy of paranoid withdrawal. Callers share vivid personal examples.

Color Perception and the Brain July 8, 2008

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, The Mind & Neuroscience

Color isn’t just aesthetic, it’s neurological. Armand DiMele traces how sharp shapes trigger the amygdala’s danger response, why color preferences vary by culture and temperament, and how personal history, like a caller who stopped wearing red after her grandmother’s death, shapes what we can and cannot stand to see.

Moods and How They Shape Us June 17, 2008

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Depression & Mood, Emotions & Inner Life

What exactly is a mood, and why do people sometimes cling to their worst ones? Armand DiMele breaks down the anatomy of mood, from Robert Thayer’s energy-tension model to the full spectrum of human emotional states, and explains why exercise, food, alcohol, and sex all serve as mood regulators. Caller stories about a bipolar spouse and a man who refused to give up his depression add vivid texture.

A Nation of Wimps with Hara Estroff Marano June 11, 2008

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Hara Estroff Marano
Category: Family & Parenting, Personal Growth & Change

Overprotective parenting is producing psychologically fragile young adults, argues Hara Estroff Marano, Author and Psychology Today Editor. Armand DiMele and Marano dig into college mental health data, the neuroscience of play, the danger of misplaced praise, and why letting kids fail early is the kindest thing a parent can do.