Chronic negativity is not just a bad habit but a carry-forward from family history and depression. Armand DiMele contrasts “linking” thinking, tying happiness to future conditions, with Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of “flow,” arguing that anchoring to the present is what separates genuinely happy people from miserable ones.
Different cultures don’t just treat mental illness differently, they define it differently. Armand DiMele surveys a striking range of culture-bound syndromes, from “running amok” in Malaysia to “ghost sickness” among Native Americans, showing how biology, belief, and shame shape what gets called disorder and what gets ignored.
Hormonal shifts in middle age are not a slow decline but a shedding of biological imperatives that frees people to rediscover themselves. Armand DiMele and studio guests Dr. Kent Robertshaw, MD, Psychiatrist, and Linda Vanella, LCSW-R, trace how falling testosterone and estrogen reshape identity, drive anxiety, and open the door to playfulness, creativity, and new purpose.
Timing shapes who we fall for, which jobs we take, and whether relationships survive. Armand DiMele argues that falling in love is about finding a plus for your minus at the right moment, not destiny. Callers share hard-won wisdom, and the episode touches on psychodrama as a therapeutic tool.
Does the drive to be noticed make us miserable, or is feeling significant essential to mental health? Armand DiMele and Lisa Arnone, LCSW, trace the line between healthy agency and egotism, explore how depression strips away a sense of mattering, and ask what we might discover if we stopped trying to be seen.
Why do holidays hit so hard? Armand DiMele and Dr. Kent Robertshaw, MD, Psychiatrist, explore the biology and psychology of seasonal depression, joined by Dr. Michael B. Schachter, MD, Author, who draws on his book about depression to discuss vitamin D, melatonin, light therapy, and the genetic roots of seasonal mood shifts.
