Episodes

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!

Media especially through portrayals of characters, narratives and scenarios can serve as powerful models for learning behavior. We have seen this in the famous Bobo doll experiment by Albert Bandura. Following a series of child tests, Albert Bandura proposed the social learning theory. The experiments proved that children learn through observation and later imitate similar behavior with the combination of environmental and cognitive factors. We are now at a turning point for the world with state...

It’s always difficult to hear your children yelling or sobbing that they don’t want to go to school. You may be even more sensitive to their reluctance and anxiety because of what an unpredictable place school has felt like for the past two years. So, what do you do when you have scrambled to get all your kids’ school supplies and clothes ready for school only to find that you now must coax them to get there? How do you coach 50 pounds or more of pure resistance to leave the house? Tune in and l...

What makes friendship in marriage a potential benefit is that you will need to have someone you can talk to and fight alongside when life gets tough. And the ideal combination is a spouse with whom you share your life plans and the best buddy all in one. Best friends can talk about everything together, console each other, support one another, and help find solutions. While we are contemplating why one should marry their best friend, it is apparent that you wonder how many people actually end up ...

What, exactly, is apathy? In a sense, it’s something like falling in love. You can describe it all you want, but until you’ve experienced it, you can only guess what it feels like. Paradoxically, what makes the feeling of apathy unique is that it’s essentially the feeling of not feeling. It’s something that at some point in your existence you’ve encountered. Whenever you feel that something vital is missing from your life, yet lack the drive to pursue it, you’re afflicted with this curiously “em...

When you take things personally, you allow many issues to consume your well-being. This way of thinking exhausts your energy with little good and a lot of stress and anxiety. The amount of worry, anger, and suffering you experience in your life is proportional to your sense of self-importance. Whatever you include as part of “me” or “mine” is part of the ego’s domain. The ego causes you to seek pleasure and avoid pain. It is driven by short-term gratification and avoids long-term fulfillment. Co...

People who have borderline personality disorder tend to have more tumultuous, chaotic romantic relationships. Such relationships are often marked by stress, conflict, and dysfunction. Some of the ways that BPD can manifest in a relationship include: Oscillating between excessive demands for attention and a sudden withdrawal Severe fear of abandonment that leads to needy, clingy behaviors Lying and deception, often caused by the distorted perceptions people with BPD may hold. Impulsive sexuality ...

While some partnerships are beyond repair—whether it’s due to infidelity or emotional abuse—other couples call it quits at the first sign of conflict, but they miss out on an opportunity to resolve anything. Before making your decision, it’s important to try salvaging the marriage and working through your issues (we recommend seeing a marriage counselor). Since both of you play a role in the relationship, doing the inner work is also a necessary step. That said, if you’ve tried everything to res...

You’re sick and tired of all the dating apps and websites and trying to meet people in your kickball league? And how many awkward first dates can you go on to find a “normal” person? And what’s with all the fake personalities and flaky people who seem more interested in themselves and can’t be bothered to make a slight change in their schedule to, you know, go out with you? If this describes the majority of your romantic life, I want you to open up your mind a little and start looking at things ...

The severity of midlife crisis symptoms can vary from person to person. Gender can also play a role in how a midlife crisis unfolds. Women may be more likely to go through a period of self-reflection as they shift away from tending to the needs of others to tending to their own needs. Men, on the other hand, might be more likely to feel as if their past decisions have limited their future options. Tune in and learn how to navigate this crazy period of life!

They say marriage is a covenant, and keeping that covenant requires two committed people. It doesn’t matter the grand wedding you had, the gifts you received, or the kinds of guests that attended your wedding. It takes more than just a celebration to sustain a marriage union, and there are things to consider before getting married. Before you get married, you must understand the commitment that you are making to your partner. Some relationships lead to marriage. But before venturing into what yo...