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Inner Voices and Obsessive Compulsion Undated

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Linda Vanella

Category: Anxiety & Fear, Meaning, Spirituality & Philosophy

What happens when the inner voice you are told to trust becomes the voice that traps you? Armand DiMele and Linda Vanella, LCSW-R, trace how obsessive compulsive thinking works, with a close look at scrupulosity, the little-known OCD variant rooted in religious or moral perfectionism, and how childhood wounds often feed these hidden compulsions.

Culture Bound Syndromes Around the World Undated

Host: Armand DiMele

Category: Society, Culture & Current Events, The Mind & Neuroscience

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.

The Privilege and Pain of Physical Beauty Undated

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Kent Robertshaw

Category: Emotions & Inner Life, Identity & The Self

Good-looking people get better parenting, higher grades, and lighter legal treatment. Armand and Dr. Kent Robertshaw, MD, psychiatrist, examine how physical appearance shapes self-worth from infancy onward, why beautiful people face their own insecurities, and how body dysmorphic disorder keeps sufferers chasing fixes that never resolve the underlying wound.

Feelings You Are Supposed to Have Undated

Host: Armand DiMele

Category: Emotions & Inner Life, Identity & The Self

Why do people fail to feel what others expect them to feel? Armand DiMele examines the gap between expected and actual emotion, from maternal instinct and monogamy to pride, generosity, and remorse. Callers share their own struggles, including one survivor reconnecting with spirituality after trauma.

Shame and the Urge to Disappear Undated

Host: Armand DiMele

Category: Depression & Mood, Emotions & Inner Life

Blushing is just the visible tip of shame, but Armand DiMele argues that shame runs deep enough to drive suicide across cultures, from Afghan women to Japanese workers to returning soldiers. Callers share their own experiences of shame, self-attack, and the spiritual breakthroughs that finally allowed them to feel worthy.

Dominance and Submission with Melissa Febos Undated

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Melissa Febos

Category: Identity & The Self, Sexuality & Desire

Melissa Febos, author of the memoir “Whip Smart,” describes her four years as a professional dominatrix in Midtown Manhattan and what it taught her about power and fear. Armand DiMele and co-host Dr. Sherry Siegel probe why high-powered men seek submission, and Febos reflects on how therapy finally let her see the work clearly.