depression |

Breaking Free From Fixed Roles November 29, 2005

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Gladys Santopal, Sherry Oren King

Category: Emotions & Inner Life, Personal Growth & Change

When we cling to a fixed idea of who we are, something in the mind can sabotage us, as with a kicker who missed three field goals in front of his cheering family. Armand and two Gestalt therapists, Sherry Oren King and Gladys Santopal, explore how rigid self-concepts block authentic living and what awareness, inner reliance, and stopping the urge to change others can actually do.

Thinking as Emotional Discharge Undated

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Ben Starr, Giullian Gioiello

Category: Emotions & Inner Life, The Mind & Neuroscience

Thinking is not neutral reflection but a behavior the mind uses to discharge uncomfortable feelings before they overwhelm us. Armand DiMele walks through his feelings-impulses-behaviors model, with co-hosts Giullian Gioiello and Ben Starr, and a caller’s story about a protest march illustrates how beauty and solidarity can break through emotional shutdown.

Finding Your Path with a Heart Undated

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Angela, Gina, Steven, Sue, Vincent

Category: Identity & The Self, Personal Growth & Change

What does it mean to live a life that actually fits you? Armand DiMele draws on Carlos Castaneda’s concept of “a path with a heart” to argue that most people lose their authentic selves in childhood and spend adulthood on paths that quietly weaken them. Callers share their own struggles with direction, unfulfilling relationships, and the search for meaning.

Turning Regrets Into Wisdom Undated

Host: Armand DiMele

Category: Depression & Mood, Personal Growth & Change

Regret is not simply bad or good. Armand DiMele argues that obsessive regret feeds depression, but dismissing regret entirely stunts maturity. The episode explores how examining what went wrong, with honesty and without self-punishment, transforms regret into genuine wisdom. Callers share their own turning points.

Holiday Depression with Dr. Michael B. Schachter Undated

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Dr. Kent Robert Short, Dr. Michael B. Schachter

Category: Depression & Mood, Meaning, Spirituality & Philosophy

The holidays bring the year’s highest rates of despair, and Armand DiMele and Dr. Kent Robert Short dig into why: family expectations, economic inequality, and the grief of absences. Dr. Michael B. Schachter, MD, Author, joins by phone to explain how reduced sunlight depletes vitamin D and disrupts melatonin, and what actually helps.

When Parents Are Depressed Undated

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Christine Ulrich

Category: Depression & Mood, Family & Parenting

Parental depression is one of the strongest predictors of childhood anxiety and behavioral disorders, and treating the parent often helps the child more than medicating the child. Armand DiMele and research assistant Christine Ulrich examine the evidence, explain the family-system dynamic, and take calls from adult listeners tracing their struggles back to depressed or absent parents.

What You Offer to Get Loved Undated

Host: Armand DiMele

Category: Identity & The Self, Love & Romantic Relationships

We don’t get loved for who we are but for the act we perform. Armand DiMele argues that everyone develops a personal commodity, a curated set of traits offered to secure love and value, and that depression is simply the belief that nothing you offer will ever be enough.

Political Frustration and the Inner Rebel Undated

Category: Emotions & Inner Life, Society, Culture & Current Events

Political frustration mirrors childhood helplessness more than most people realize. Armand DiMele argues that when rebellion feels futile, people regress to the emotional position of a powerless child, growing cynical or turning on their own allies. Callers share personal stories connecting civic despair to family wounds.

Depression and the Alchemy of Transformation Undated

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Roberta Maria Atti

Category: Depression & Mood, Meaning, Spirituality & Philosophy

Depression is not a problem to be suppressed but a transformative process, like bread being kneaded before it rises. Armand DiMele and co-host Roberta Maria Atti trace alchemy from ancient Egypt and China through religious persecution to its core insight: that destruction and conflict are essential stages on the path to something higher.

Maternal Depression with Tracy Thompson Undated

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Tracy Thompson

Category: Depression & Mood, Family & Parenting

Maternal depression affects millions of mothers yet remains largely hidden behind the stigma of admitting struggle. Tracy Thompson, author of “The Ghost in the House,” joins Armand to discuss how depression intersects with motherhood, the genetics of vulnerability, what a mother’s typical day actually looks like, and why men need to understand this too.