Dr. Gary Bell's Absurd Psychology
Episodes
Healing a Broken Heart
14 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It's normal for us to need time to ruminate and go over a romantic break-up in minute detail when we feel like we were the one who was dumped. Break-u...
Mangina: The Death of the Male
07 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For as long as America has been a country, the straight white American man has been king of the hill. But as society changes and culture evolves, the ...
The Cost of Loneliness
30 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Loneliness is often defined as the distressing feeling generated by a lack of meaningful, intimate, and reciprocal interactions. One might describe it...
Why People Delay Happiness
23 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
There are two paths we can take in any given situation: one is the path of avoiding pain in the moment, and the other is the more difficult path of de...
How Do Know I Am Depressed
16 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is more than simply feeling sad, experiencing grief, or being super drained of energy. Those feelings are totally vali...
Emerging from Narcissistic Parents
09 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When it comes to narcissism, there is a spectrum of severity. While many people have narcissistic traits, some people have personalities that are hig...
Can This Marriage Be Saved?
02 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Every marriage has its ups and downs. But if you're reading this, chances are yours has been down for a while now. Maybe you've been dealing with an i...
Get It Up: Erectile Dysfunction
26 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Psychological factors are responsible for about 10%-20% of all cases of erectile dysfunction, or ED. It is often a secondary reaction to an underlying...
The Meaning of Life
19 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We should start by saying that there is no meaning in life outside of that which we can find by ourselves as a species. There isn't any kind of object...
Same Argument: Year AfterYear
12 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever noticed how we often argue about the same things over and over again? How pointless, isn't it? Nothing is ever accomplished by hashing o...
STUPID: Our New Standard of Intelligence
05 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
While intelligence is one of the most talked about subjects in psychology, there is no standard definition of what exactly constitutes intelligence...
Impatient Crazy-Makers
28 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We've all been impatient—and we've all made rash decisions when impatience got the better of us. We've left lines that were barely moving, only to g...
Where Is Your Will?
21 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Modern psychologists often use the word volition in preference to "Will". Volition is the cognitive process by which an individual decides on and comm...
Cancel Culture
14 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Just about every week we see the same story. Someone takes a jittery smartphone video of a white person caught in the act of doing something that's la...
Transhuman: Human 2.0
07 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Transhumanism] promotes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding and evaluating the opportunities for enhancing the human condition and the huma...
Relearning Adult Friendship
31 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Children often make friends seamlessly; the settings in which they spend time, such as school, camp, and sports teams, naturally spur fast friendships...
The Need for Control and Power
24 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
People often equate freedom with having a lot of control over things. We think we would rather be the boss who has control over other employees than t...
The Problem with Procrastinators
17 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Everyone puts things off sometimes, but procrastinators chronically avoid difficult tasks and may deliberately look for distractions. Procrastination ...
Polyamorus vs. Polygamy
10 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Many people confuse polyamory, polygamy, polygyny, and polyandry — and this confusion is unsurprising, considering that those terms are new to most ...
Trapped in Your Life
03 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Many people feel trapped by aspects of their life: trapped in an unhappy relationship, at an unfulfilling job, or generally unhappy with their life de...
Female Psychopaths
27 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Many female psychopaths seek to destroy others however they can. A female psychopath may undermine your self-esteem using innuendo, or bully you a...
Psychology of Your Neighborhood Socialist
20 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The field of psychology is a big capitalist business, whether it is helping capitalists with advertising, finding new consumers, selling self-help boo...
Caring for a Narcissistic Parent
13 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Often, narcissistic parents perceive the independence of their child as a threat. What distinguishes the narcissistic parent is a pervasive tendency t...
Critical Race Theory: A Critical Analysis
06 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Critical race theory (CRT), initially created as a body of legal theory, is an organizing framework useful in understanding human behavior and social ...
Obessesive Compulsive Disorder: Ritual and Repeat
29 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental disorder in which people experience unwanted and repeated thoughts, feelings, images, or sensations (...
Autistic Spectrum Disorder: Life on the Spectrum
22 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder that involves impairments in social interaction and communication, challenges with sensory...
Self-Sabotage: What have I done to myself?
15 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Behavior is said to be self-sabotaging when it creates problems in daily life and interferes with long-standing goals. The most common self-sabotagin...
Living with Rage
08 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Irritation, frustration, anger, rage: these are all forms of anger. And they are feelings first. But when a person's rage becomes behavior even before...
Miracles: Do you Believe?
01 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Belief in miracles is widespread. According to recent surveys 72% of people in the USA and 59% of people in the UK believe that miracles take plac...
Stop Being Defensive and Grow Up
25 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Defense mechanisms are rooted in Freud's theory of personality. According to his model, the mind has three dueling forces: the id (unconscious and p...
Pornography Addiction
18 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Pornography use is a widespread means of dealing with one's sexual drives. More than 90 percent of young men report watching porn videos with som...
Psychology of the Apocalypse
11 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Why, then, do we find the basic narrative so appealing? What is the underlying psychology behind apocalyptic prophecies, both religious and secular? T...
Teenagers and Their Parents
04 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Adolescence is the transitional stage from childhood to adulthood that occurs between ages 13 and 19. The physical and psychological changes that ta...
Dysthymic Depression: Eeyore in COVID
27 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Persistent depressive disorder, known as dysthymia or low-grade depression, is less severe than major depression but more chronic. It occurs twice as...
Stroke: Who Am I Now
20 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A stroke occurs when the blood supply to part of your brain is interrupted or reduced, preventing brain tissue from getting oxygen and nutrients. Brai...
Managing Panic
13 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
People with panic disorder often experience negative thoughts with self-defeating beliefs. This is especially the case during a panic attack when y...
The Impact of Divorce on Children
06 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As a marriage dissolves, some parents find themselves asking questions like, "Should we stay together for the kids?" Other parents find divorce is th...
Reincarnation: An Interview with Dr. Walter Semkiw (M.D.)
30 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
One of the mysteries puzzling human mind since the origin of mankind is the concept of "reincarnation" which literally means "to take on the flesh aga...
How Much FEAR Guides My Life
23 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Fear and anxiety may not be anyone's favorite emotions, but these powerful sensations go a long way in keeping us safe. If the dog down the street bit...
Imposter Syndrome
16 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Impostor syndrome (IS) refers to an internal experience of believing that you are not as competent as others perceive you to be. While this definition...
Escaping COIVD-19 Imprisonment
09 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
To say that the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has changed the world would be an understatement. In less than a year since the virus emerged ...
Divorce: Coping
02 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For those who do wind up divorced, there seems to be a magic number for when. No matter where in the world you're from or in what culture you've been ...
Responding to Oppression
16 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Oxford English Dictionary defines "oppression" as "the state of being subject to unjust treatment or control." However, this does not mean that t...
What Makes Marriage Work
02 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
If you are worried about the future of your marriage or relationship, you have plenty of company. There's no denying that this is a frightening time...
Existential Despair
26 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Existential angst not only derives from the human inability to think, feel, and act in the world or experience a love for life, but also from the fea...
Comfort Eating
19 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
How to stop eating emotionally? Emotional eating (sometimes called stress eating or comfort eating) is difficult to control partly because we have ...
Facing Burnout
12 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Burnout is a state of emotional, mental, and often physical exhaustion brought on by prolonged or repeated stress. Though it's most often caused by p...
Past Lives Therapy
05 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Regression therapy is an approach to treatment that focuses on resolving significant past events believed to be interfering with a person's present...
Betrayal: The Cut Runs Deep
29 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Human beings need to trust. Trust allays anxiety, helps lift depression, and makes it possible to consistently invest interest and enjoyment in one a...
Miscarriage: Hope to Devastation and Healing
15 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A miscarriage is a real loss that can affect you physically, emotionally, and spiritually. But those who haven't experienced a miscarriage may not u...
Stressed Out
08 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Stress generally refers to two things: the psychological perception of pressure, on the one hand, and the body's response to it, on the other, which i...
Facing Death
01 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We all have to face it at some point; an event of such enormity that it can make everything else in our lives seem insignificant: death, the end of ou...
Emotional Reciprocity
24 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
One of the fundamental laws of social psychology is the reciprocity principle. When we pay back what we receive from others in social situations, we...
Toxic People
17 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
There are two types of people, those who contribute and those who detract. You must learn that the best way to build your career and your life is thro...
The Psychology of Cheating and Stealing
10 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A person who steals things that he already owns, can easily afford, or does not want or need can be baffling. Mental health professionals may think th...
States of Human Development and Those That Missed Them
03 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Developmental psychology is the branch of psychology that focuses on how people grow and change over the course of a lifetime. Those who specialize in...
Personality
27 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
From eccentric and introverted to boisterous and bold, the human personality is a complex and colorful thing. Personality refers to a person's distinc...
Serial Marriage and Incompatability
20 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
If you're like most people, you figure you'll get married once—maybe twice—in your entire life.However, if you're a serial monogamist (a person wh...
Drama People
13 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
When we think of people being dramatic – or in this case, overly dramatic - we think of them making much of their appearance before others. They e...
Toxic Guilt and Shame
06 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Although many people use the two words guilt and shame interchangeably, from a psychological perspective, they actually refer to different experience...
Being the Outsider
29 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Unfortunately, we're often taught that being an outsider is a "bad" thing, and no wonder — biologically we are made to stay within the safe confines...
What the XXXX is Systemic Racism?
22 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Rabbi Abraham Heschel stated that "Racism is man's gravest threat to man – the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason." Racism is a system of pow...
Wisdom: The Opposite of Evil
15 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Wisdom is one of those qualities that is difficult to define—because it encompasses so much—but which people generally recognize when they encount...
Psychology of Homeless
08 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As cities across America grapple with people living on the streets, homelessness is becoming impossible to ignore. More than half a million Americans ...
To Be Asexual
01 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The defining characteristic of asexuality is never feeling sexually attracted to anyone, but asexuals vary in other ways. Romantic attraction, for e...
The Power of Words
25 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Some of us are in the habit of using the same negative words over and over again out of habit. The problem is that the more we hear, read, or speak a ...
Eating Disorders: Death by Food
18 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Eating disorders are complex psycho-physiologic challenges that require much more than simple determination and a strong will to conquer. One of every...
Enneagrams: What is Your Type?
11 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Enneagram is a powerful tool for personal and collective transformation. Stemming from the Greek words ennea (nine) and grammos (a written symbol...
Depersonalization and Dissassociation: MIA
04 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In the case of depersonalization, the individual may feel detached from his or her entire being (e.g., "I am no one," "I have no self"). He or she ma...
Conspiracy Psychology
28 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
While humans seek solace in conspiracy theories, however, they rarely find it. For one thing, conspiratorial thinking can incite individuals to behave...
The Art of Persuasion
21 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
While persuasion is a science, it's also an art. If a person pushes too hard, he will risk being aggressive. If he nudges too lightly, he will get now...
Group Think: Irrational Minds
14 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Groupthink is a phenomenon that occurs when a group of well-intentioned people make irrational or non-optimal decisions spurred by the urge to confor...
Problems with Authority
07 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Groupthink is a phenomenon that occurs when a group of well-intentioned people make irrational or non-optimal decisions spurred by the urge to confor...
Toxic Masculinity Defined
30 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The term "toxic masculinity" has become ubiquitous over the past few years after lingering in obscurity for the better part of three decades. Coined b...
Co-Dependent: Emotional Caretaker or Manipulator
16 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
An emotional caretaker is someone who looks out for the feelings, needs and wants of an emotional manipulator. The caretaker defers to the manipulat...
RE-Starting Your Life
09 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Something isn't right. It could be the job, the place you live, the relationship you are in, or the hobbies that consume your time. Day in and day out...
Sex in Marriage: Keeping and Maintaining
02 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As with many things, husbands and wives differ on when or how often to have sex. Men rarely see impediments to love-making and most think it's a good...
Resentment in Relationships: The Endless Cost
26 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Resenting somebody isn't as simple as disliking them, or finding them annoying; it's a feeling that is actually related to the repetition of painful p...
Why Be Shy?
19 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Shyness is a sense of awkwardness or apprehension that some people consistently feel when approaching or being approached by others. Shyness is a resp...
Finding and Living Your Passion
12 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Everyone has an idea of what passion means, but when we start talking with others about our understanding, it often turns out that different people me...
What's LOVE Got To Do WIth It
05 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
When we take the time to celebrate love and the people who are meaningful to us. Love — which could be defined as a field of resonating, often osci...
The Madness of Indecisiveness
28 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Clearly, most of our daily decisions are not earth-shattering, but you can imagine how paralysis in the decision-making process would render us virt...
Isolation and the Effects on the Mind
21 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Experts suggest that the negative feelings and experiences associated with prolonged isolation will come for us all. Humans are social creatures—yes...
Sleep Paralysis: Paranormal or Normal
14 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Sleep paralysis can be a terrifying experience that is surprisingly common. It can involve the inability to move, auditory and visual hallucinations, ...
Depression and Anxiety: Two Sides of the Same Coin
07 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Are you anxious or are you depressed? In the world of mental health care, where exact diagnosis dictates treatment, anxiety and depression are reg...
Loneliness
31 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Though our need to connect is innate, many of us frequently feel alone. Even some people who are surrounded by others throughout the day—or are in a...
Birth Control in the Zombie Apocalypse with Robin LaCross
24 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In anticipation of an never-seen-before birth crisis after October 2020, a whole new set of zombies are about to inherit the earth. Robin LaCross is a...
The Viral Panic Attack: CV 19
17 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
When a health problem like Ebola or coronavirus comes from abroad, we have poor information about it than we do about health problems in this country....
Coincidence
10 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
One thing is certain about coincidence. The phenomenon fascinates believers and skeptics alike. It's a porthole into one of the most interesting philo...
Death Anxiety
03 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The awareness of death is the downside of human intelligence. Life must end for all living beings, but only humans may grasp its existential meaning....
Hidden Rage
25 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Despite popular opinion, anger issues aren't only of the loud/screaming/throwing things variety. Sometimes the signs are a lot more subtle, and may ev...
Ghosting: Where did you go?
18 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Ghosting means suddenly discontinuing all contact with another person to end a relationship. Ghosting can be failing to respond to a text exchange wit...
Pride and Humility: Which is more powerful?
04 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We all live a constant battle of pride vs humility, which is really just a war against two half's of the same person. It's you verses you. You are...
Set Boundaries or Have Your Life Hijacked
28 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Each of us tries to erect a boundary around the parts of ourself we want to keep private, or at least shielded from those with whom we're not intimate...
Attitudes and Behavior
21 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Although we might use the term in a different way in our everyday life (e.g., "Hey, he's really got an attitude!"), social psychologists reserve the ...
The Atheist and Agnostic: The Post-Christian Western World
14 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
No matter what their reasons or how they approach the question, agnostics and atheists are fundamentally different, but also non-exclusive. Many peopl...
Politics, Media and Anxiety
07 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Political uncertainty can be challenging, regardless of your beliefs or where you might fall on the political spectrum. For many Americans, the transi...
Pornography and Porndogs
31 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Pornography, often colloquially referred to as porn, is any sexually explicit material—written, visual, or otherwise—that is intended to sexually ...
Eudaimonia: Becoming Our Best Version of Us
24 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The ancient Greek philosophers were pretty much obsessed with the idea of a good life. Their whole way of life was organized around ideas about what m...
Judgy People
10 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We're constantly taking in information about our social world, and this can involve judging people. These judgments can be super quick and automatic....