Episodes

•Most of us have had our hearts broken at some point and in some form or another, whether through the loss of a loved one or the ending of a romantic relationship. The emotional devastation that heartbreak leaves in its wake can be paralyzing, the pain all-encompassing, and the impact on our psychological and physical well-being crippling. In the most severe cases, a breakup can be a trigger for a clinical depressive episode. Tune in and learn all about healing heartbreak!

Too many people work just for the paycheck. And the paycheck is important – there are kids to feed, rent to pay, and new shoes to buy when the old ones finally wear out. Everything is expensive, and having an income is critical to survival. In many cases, the message is that work should not be fun – weekends, or time off for vacation or personal days, is when you should have your fun. Work is, well, it’s “work”. It shouldn’t be enjoyed; it’s just something to get through on your journey to somew...

Social awareness and progressivism have become increasingly important for many people, especially when it comes to dating and relationships. Unfortunately, some choose to exploit this trend by pretending to be more socially conscious and “woke” than they actually are in a bid to attract partners. This is known as “wokefishing.” The bad news is that it can be frustrating and even harmful for those who are looking for a genuine connection. The good news is that it is often easy to see past the dec...

One of the worst psychological pieces of advice on the internet is that which describes resentment as a healthy emotion. Contrary evidence in psychology and medicine notwithstanding, some authors argue that resentment is nevertheless healthy because it “tells you something is wrong.” So does disease, emotional disorder, and addiction. There are healthy ways to know that something is wrong and there are unhealthy ways. Resentment is not a discreet emotion; it’s an impotent form of anger. Where ov...

The desire to avoid conflict in a relationship is common, but for very different reasons. First, involvement with a partner who is unable to perspective-take makes it nearly impossible to work out difficulties constructively. Simple disagreements often escalate into epic battles. Understandably, a person may wish to avoid these nightmare fights by side-stepping the power struggles. Second, a partner who is egocentric may wish to dodge a person’s disapproval; he or she hides selfish acts and avoi...

While cultural tropes suggest that adult children estrange in a fit of pique, that doesn’t actually appear to be the case for the preponderance of adults estranged from parents and, most usually, their extended families as well; the decision is usually decades in the making. It is clear that it’s rare to be estranged from just one person since relatives are either co-opted to take sides or choose sides on their own, so the loss of ties can be enormous and staggering. Numerous studies point to th...

Hybristophilia is a term that has emerged to describe a peculiar and often misunderstood psychological phenomenon: sexual or romantic attraction to dangerous people or people with a criminal history. This type of attraction arouses deep interest in individuals who have committed illicit or violent acts, raising questions about the motivations behind this preference and its possible psychological implications. The term "hybristophilia" comes from the Greek word "hubris", which refers to extreme a...

Regret can be an incredibly painful emotion. While rooted in feelings of contrition, disappointment, guilt, or remorse for things that have happened in the past, such feelings can have a powerful influence over your life in the here and now. The problem is that when you are feeling regret over past choices or past mistakes, you might sometimes miss out on the joys of the present moment. Tune in and learn how to recognize and turn away regret in your life!

Living in a foreign country and adjusting to a new culture can be a very rewarding experience. But, it can also be a difficult one if you do not understand the values and assumptions of the society. Values are ideas about what is right and wrong, desirable and undesirable, normal and abnormal, proper and improper. Assumptions, as the term is used here, are the unquestioned standards about people, life, and the way things are. People who grow up in a particular culture share certain values and as...

If a family member suffers from Narcissistic Personality Disorder or displays significant narcissistic tendencies, the holidays can mean great chaos and calamity. During the season, there are more opportunities for narcissists to display their most egregious behaviors. Narcissists have a hard time celebrating the big events of others. If there’s a holiday gathering on the calendar, they will try to make themselves the center of attention through whatever means most natural and effective. Narciss...

Persistent depressive disorder, known as dysthymia or low-grade depression, is less severe than major depression but more chronic. It occurs twice as often in women as in men. Persistent depressive disorder (PDD) is a serious and disabling disorder that shares many symptoms with other forms of clinical depression. It is generally experienced as a less severe but more chronic form of major depression. PDD was referred to as dysthymia in previous versions of the DSM. PDD is characterized by depres...

Though our need to connect is innate, many of us frequently feel alone. Loneliness is the state of distress or discomfort that results when one perceives a gap between one’s desires for social connection and actual experiences of it. Even some people who are surrounded by others throughout the day—or are in a long-lasting marriage—still experience a deep and pervasive loneliness. Research suggests that loneliness poses serious threats to well-being as well as long-term physical health. Tune in a...

Geographical psychology examines links between location and psychological phenomena, such as how and why personality traits, life satisfaction, and social behavior differ from place to place—or cluster in certain areas. These differences may appear across hemispheres, regions, states, cities, or neighborhoods. Every location houses psychologically diverse residents. But general differences between populations in distinct places can be informative. If neuroticism or life satisfaction is higher in...

You just moved to a new city. All your friends are getting married or having kids. You retired. You got divorced. You've outgrown your childhood friends. You’ve been clinging to your spouse as your only friend and it’s making you lonely. There are many reasons why you might need to make new friends—and if you don’t need to make them now, you will at some point. Tune in and learn all about how to make and sustain friendship in a busy life!

The question of the meaning of life is perhaps one that we would rather not ask, for fear of the answer or lack thereof. Still today, many people believe that we, humankind, are the creation of a supernatural entity called God, that God had an intelligent purpose in creating us, and that this intelligent purpose is the meaning of life. Tune in for a deep exploration into what our meaning in the life is!

With all the buzz around childhood obesity, it's easy to become desensitized to the statistics. But the shocking figures can't be ignored: Since 1980, the prevalence of obesity among kids and adolescents in the United States has tripled, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Estimates from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) show that 31.7 percent of U.S. children and teens were either overweight or obese in 2008. Among low-income families a...

Promiscuity is formally defined, according to Webster, as including not only frequent but indiscriminate sexual behavior. Preference for frequent sexual contacts is not necessarily the same as being sexually indiscriminating. The latter, in women, indicates a possible compulsive, and therefore, pathological quality to the excessive sexual behavior, referred to traditionally as nymphomania. (In men, it is called satyriasis.) Tune in and learn how promiscuity impacts your life!

Through most of Western civilization, marriage has been more a matter of money, power and survival than of delicate sentiments. In medieval Europe, everyone from the lord of the manor to the village locals had a say in deciding who should wed. Love was considered an absurdly flimsy reason for a match. Even during the Enlightenment and Victorian eras, adultery and friendship were often more passionate than marriage. These days, we marry for love—and are rewarded with a blistering divorce rate. Tu...

Mania can range from mild (known as hypomania) to severe; at its most extreme, mania can trigger delusions, violence, and an increased risk of suicide. Depending on the cause, a manic episode can last anywhere from several days to several months, and will typically increase in severity—and in the level of agitation—as it progresses. Milder mania is more likely to be associated with positive outcomes, like increased productivity or greater feelings of optimism. However, the impulsive behaviors as...

Virtually anyone who has survived sexual assault or experienced sexual harassment knows how painful victim-blaming can be. Survivors are often asked what they were wearing, what they did to “encourage” the perpetrator, or even why they didn’t fight back more. Despite the recent rise of the #MeToo movement, victim-blaming remains a tenacious problem. In fact, it may be more tenacious than any of us imagined. That's because the tendency to blame the victim may be programmed into the human mind at ...

Body language is a silent orchestra, as people constantly give clues to what they’re thinking and feeling. Non-verbal messages including body movements, facial expressions, vocal tone and volume, and other signals are collectively known as body language. Microexpressions (brief displays of emotion on the face), hand gestures, and posture all register in the human brain almost immediately—even when a person is not consciously aware they have perceived anything. For this reason, body language can ...

If nothing else, the conflict in the Middle East has made it clear that identity politics isn’t going away. In fact, many individuals who previously criticized identity politics now embrace their personal identities more strongly than ever.Identity politics refers to political positions and perspectives that focus on the interests and issues pertinent to specific groups defined by characteristics such as race, gender, sexuality, religion, nationality or other markers of identity. It emphasizes t...

While American children had once commonly enjoyed the freedom to run around outside with minimal adult interference, they began to spend more time indoors where their parents could watch them. When they did go outside, they were more often accompanied by a grown-up; unstructured roughhousing and roleplaying were replaced by supervised play dates or carefully shepherded trips to the park. Kids began to spend more time in organized activities, like dance or sports, and less time in the kind of dis...

Why do we hold grudges when they are in fact quite painful to maintain, and often seem to work against what we really want? Why do we keep wounds open and active, living in past experiences of pain which prevent new experiences from being able to happen? What keeps us stuck when we want to move on and let go? Most importantly, how can we let go? Tune in and learn all about managing grudges!