stress |

Crazy Making and How It Works April 21, 2015

Host: Armand DiMele

Category: Communication & Conflict, Emotions & Inner Life

Why do people deliberately destabilize those they love, and how does it work on different personality types? Armand DiMele walks through the psychology of crazy-making, using the Enneagram to show exactly which pressure points unravel each type, while callers share their own experiences of being worn down by the people closest to them.

Funny Thinking September 17, 2013

Host: Armand DiMele

Category: Emotions & Inner Life, Personal Growth & Change

Irrational thinking is the hidden engine of unhappiness. Armand DiMele walks through nearly twenty common cognitive distortions, from needing universal approval to believing everyone else is happy but you, drawing on rational emotive therapy and his own clinical stories to show how funny thinking fuels emotional distress.

Anxiety as Friend and Foe with Dr. Sarah Denning March 26, 2013

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Dr. Sarah Denning

Category: Anxiety & Fear, Personal Growth & Change

Anxiety can motivate or paralyze, and the difference often comes down to catching it early. Dr. Sarah Denning, Founder of Adaptive Behavioral Therapy, joins Armand DiMele to map anxiety from low-grade nervousness to full panic attacks, introducing a stress scale and practical tools for identifying and lowering anxiety in the moment.

Losing Your Mind to Find Resilience November 6, 2012

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Giullian Gioiello, Yo-Yo Ma

Category: Emotions & Inner Life, Personal Growth & Change

Reality is hard, and humans escape it through sex, rage, drugs, romance, and lies. Armand DiMele argues this is understandable but costly, then pivots to Hurricane Sandy as a case study in forced clarity. Co-host Giullian Gioiello shares his firsthand experience as an NYU student in the East Village during the storm, grounding a practical discussion of how to build resilience through pain rather than around it.

Personality Types Along the Continuum October 23, 2012

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Dr. Erin Oberlander, John Valerio, Lisa Arnone

Category: Emotions & Inner Life, Identity & The Self

We are all born with slightly more of one trait than another, and under stress that trait gets exaggerated into what we call a personality disorder. Armand explores this continuum with Lisa Arnone, LCSW, and Dr. Erin Oberlander, examining projection, borderline dynamics, and why blame, whether of self or others, keeps people stuck.

The Shelf Life of Mental Health September 20, 2011

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Lauren Sykes, Linda Vanella

Category: Aging & Mortality, Personal Growth & Change

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.

Catching Anxiety Before It Peaks with Dr. Sarah Denning April 12, 2011

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Dr. Sarah Denning

Category: Anxiety & Fear, Personal Growth & Change

Anxiety is learned, measurable, and catchable before it spirals. Dr. Sarah Denning, Founder of Adaptive Behavioral Therapy, joins Armand to explain how a personal stress scale, breathing awareness, and resensitizing to subtle body signals can help people intervene at a level five before panic takes over.

The Chemistry of Anger July 15, 2010

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Stephanie D'Ambra

Category: Emotions & Inner Life, The Mind & Neuroscience

Anger is not just emotional but biochemical: cortisol drops, testosterone rises, and the left brain activates when we rage. Armand DiMele and Stephanie D’Ambra, LCSW discuss how anger functions as the body’s shortcut out of depression, why blaming others is an addiction, and what the latest neurochemical research reveals about rage, closeness, and self.

Depression as Brain Overload June 17, 2010

Host: Armand DiMele

Category: Depression & Mood, The Mind & Neuroscience

Depression is not weakness but a physical stress reaction triggered when the brain exhausts its supply of neurotransmitters. Armand DiMele explains the neurochemistry of collapse, the narcissistic wounds that drive suicide, and why a depressed person genuinely cannot imagine a way out. Callers share personal recoveries, including one with an MAO inhibitor.

Surviving Extreme Environments with Emily Anthes April 22, 2010

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Emily Anthes, Stephanie D'Ambra

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

What happens to the human mind when you’re trapped with strangers in Antarctica or a Mars simulation capsule for months? Emily Anthes, Science Journalist and Author, joins Armand DiMele and Stephanie D’Ambra, LCSW, to examine how extreme isolation, cold, and darkness disrupt mood, hormones, and group cohesion in ways that mirror everyday life under pressure.