The Abnormal Psychologist

In this shocking episode, I discuss the history and treatment applications of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).  I also respond to a mailbag email about borderline personality disorder. 

Special from Washington, D.C., in this episode, we delve into the difference between service animals and emotional support animals (while addressing some common questions related to both)

Let's get controversial in this episode and discuss Sensory Processing Disorder (also known as Sensory Modulation Disorder-- and a host of other names) 

This episode revisits reading and dyslexia and discusses controversial topics-- like the Reading Wars and Visual Processing Disorder-- along the way 

It's back to school time, and many people are feeling anxious, stressed, and a bit depressed.  I decided to dedicate this episode to the "back to school blues" and their close cousin, the "Sunday scaries."   

This episode is comprised of stories documenting my encounters with animals as a psychologist.  Critters encountered clinically include dogs, geckos, spiders, and all sorts of fauna that graduate student definitely didn't prepare me for. 

In this episode, I discuss the somewhat ill-defined topic of executive functioning and how it can be assessed.  We then talk about executive dysfunction and how it can be tied to ADHD.  My own executive dysfunction is on display throughout the episode. 

This episode covers the concept of grit.  It is loosely a book review of Angela Duckworth's Grit: The Power of Perseverance.  Resilience, perseverance, and learned helplessness are also discussed.  

This episode comes as a mailbag request following the Nashville Covenant School shootings which caused confusion and even persecution against sexual minorities.  This episode explores common mental health concerns among individuals in LGBTQ+ communities and also highlights the availability of resources and the importance of future research. 

This episode will introduce ABA, its applications, and its history.  We'll walk through why ABA isn't rocket science and why it's sometimes controversial.  We'll also try to wade through the alphabet soup associated with ABA. 

This episode discusses parenting styles. We'll see if I can weave in psychologist Diana Baumrind with Frank Gallagher from Shameless.  We'll also discuss grandparenting styles. 

This episode is bound to cause some controversy as it discusses what does and does not cause autism (spoiler: the MMR vaccine is not a cause).  We'll explore whether Tylenol usage in pregnancy, high-fructose corn syrup, living near a highway, and advanced parental age are linked to ASD.  We'll also talk about possible neuroanatomical causes of autism.  

I can't believe I haven't published an episode on sleep so far.  This episode will cover sleep related disorders-- and over the course of 30 minutes, I'll discuss a wide variety of topics including sexsomnia and sleep walking.  I'll also work in references to the movies Water Boy and Stepbrothers. 

Happy 2023!  This episode discusses the psychology of New Year's Resolutions and how to make them SMART 

This episode discusses another impulse control disorder, kleptomania, which involves compulsive stealing.  I'll discuss kleptomania-- and also my daughter's own stealing tendencies.

This episode discusses pyromania and arson.  It also touches upon psychogenic vomiting and features a cameo from my dogs. 

Happy Halloween!  This is a special spooky season episode that discusses a wide-range of psychologically relevant Halloween topics-- including fall fetishism, clinical lycanthropy, trick-or-treating, the Salem Witch Trials, and beliefs in ghosts and demons. 

This episode discusses how, Dr. John Fryer, under the pseudonym of Dr. H. Anonymous and with the help of a Halloween mask and a voice modulator, was able to convince the American Psychiatric Association to depathologize homosexuality. 

This episode discusses misophonia-- or when people experience emotions like anxiety, disgust, or rage that is triggered by certain sounds. 

Ever wonder what the definition of insanity is?  No, it's not doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.  This episode discusses insanity and some legal history behind the term. 

This episode discusses morbid jealousy-- or the preoccupation that your significant other is unfaithful to you.  

This episode discusses parentification (when children are put into caretaking roles) and its negative and positive associations.  I also introduce a new piece to the podcast-- a trivia segment!  Finally, I discuss 2 books I would recommend to any aspiring psychologist. 

This episode discusses the roll-out of the 988 National Mental Health Hotline in July 2022-- and why I foresee challenges with the debut of the hotline. 

Ever encountered different diagnoses from different mental health providers and wondered which, if any, is correct?  This episode discusses dueling diagnoses and diagnostic uncertainty 

This episode shares best practices and resources in talking to children about death and dying. 

This episode looks into the relationship (or lack thereof) between birth order and psychology.  How birth order relates to intelligence, personality, and psychopathology is discussed. 

This episode discusses changes between the DSM-5 and the DSM-5-TR (text revision) -- including the introduction of a new disorder (Prolonged Grief Disorder)-- and various disorder name changes 

Ever act like a kid when you're stressed out?  This episode discusses the Freudian defense mechanism of regression.  We also touch on Peter Pan Syndrome-- when fully grown adults don't act their age

Why can't you remember your first birthday party?  This episode will attempt to answer that question by exploring the topic of early childhood amnesia (also called infantile amnesia) 

This episode, which comes by listener request, explores school shootings and introduces the field of threat/risk assessment. 

This episode covers one of the oldest and most commonly administered mental health assessments-- the Mental Status Exam (MSE). 

This episode wraps up Season 2 of the podcast with me reading mailbag questions.  In doing so, we brush on arithmomania, sanity, and Joe Goldberg from the Netflix series You.  

See you in 2022!

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This episode explores involuntary commitment (also known as civil commitment or sectioning)-- and how (and when) you can be admitted to psychiatric care against your will. 

Happy 50th episode!  This episode is a celebration episode and discusses the field of school psychology (in honor of National School Psychology Awareness Week). 

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This episode delves into the psychology of conspiracy theories. 

This episode focuses on positive psychology-- on what makes us happy-- and also explores the concept of toxic positivity.  Along the way, I talk about Ted Lasso a little.  

This episode contains my ramblings and musings after reading Bessel Van der Kolk's The Body Keeps the Score: Brain Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma 

This episode is in response to a mailbag request and discusses homicidal ideation-- and whether it should be a standalone psychological diagnosis.  

This is a listener request episode that discusses what you can do as a psych undergrad to make yourself a stronger candidate for post-grad employment or for grad school.  

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This episode discusses divorce and its relevance to psychology. 

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This episode is pretty wide-ranging-- it discusses mental health and the Olympics and touches on the field of sports psychology.  

This episode also discusses Other Conditions that May be the Focus of Clinical Attention (or V-codes), which many clinicians sadly often overlook

This episode discusses Borderline Personality Disorder and Dialectical Behavior Therapy.

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theabnormalpsychologist

In this episode, we talk about issues related to telehealth/teletherapy-- including concerns about encryption, licensure, and privacy. Teletherapy, for better or worse, is not going away (but I also don't see it as replacing in-person therapy). 

This is a wide-ranging episode.  We talk about Cave Syndrome-- or the cutesy name that's been given to anxiety in returning to the real, post-pandemic world.  We also discuss depression due to summer time heat-- which is an often overlooked aspect of depression with seasonal pattern. 

This episode discusses paraphilias, or deviant sexual behaviors, and the paraphilic disorders of the DSM-5. 

I'm back-- my wife and I recently had a second child so I went MIA for about a month.  In this episode, which is a listener request, we discuss High-Functioning Autism-- or Asperger Syndrome. 

Ever feel like you're a fraud-- or question your accomplishments?  Then this episode on Imposter Syndrome is for you! 

This episode explores all things bullying-- we talk about bullies, victims, bully-victims, and cyberbullying. 

This episode discusses suicide, suicidal ideation, and warning signs and risk factors of suicide.  

This episode explores self-injurious behaviors, including cutting behaviors.  In it, we'll explore who is most likely to harm themselves, why people harm themselves, and why we consider some forms of self-harm to be socially acceptable. 

This episode explores Couvade, a condition in which men experience pregnancy symptoms. 

This episode explores the misconception that violent video games lead to school shootings.  It also touches on Pikachu and my possible addiction to Pokemon Go. 

This episode discusses imaginary friends, or imaginary companions, in early childhood.  Are they a normal part of development or do they indicate an underlying emotional disturbance? 

This episode will explore the proverbial elephant in the room-- how COVID-19 is affecting mental health across the lifespan.  Rates of anxiety, depression, disordered eating behaviors, opioid overdoses, and suicide attempts have skyrocketed over the past year. 

The seemingly simple question of "what is a psychologist?" has a surprisingly complicated answer that this episode will attempt to wade through. 

This episode explores conceptualizations of childhood through human history (or at least up until the 20th century).  It explores what an infant is, how the word "family" is related to slavery, and why you might find baby Jesus with male-pattern-baldness in medieval art .

What better way to kick off Season 2 than by talking about number 2?  This episode explores encopresis and feces smearing (scatolia). 

This episode is the season finale for Season One of the Abnormal Psychologist.  In this episode, I discuss shortcomings of the DSM-5, especially as they relate to gender and cultural issues. 

This episode discusses Autism Spectrum Disorder.  I'm super excited about this one, as Autism is one of my passions. 

This episode covers what we colloquially call "addiction"-- including substance-related addictions, like alcohol use disorder, and non-substance related addictions, like gambling disorder.  Internet gaming disorder is also discussed. 

This episode discusses schizophrenia, and in doing so, explores the life of Dr. W.C. Minor, which involved murder, the branding of someone's face, and a penis amputation. 

This episode discusses the personality disorders of the DSM-5 and touches on Borderline Personality Disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and Dependent Personality Disorder. 

This episode covers feeding and eating disorders in the DSM-5, including Anorexia nervosa and Bulimia nervosa.

This episode discusses Disruptive, Impulse-Control, and Conduct Disorders, including Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Conduct Disorder, Intermittent Explosive Disorder, Pyromania, and Kleptomania. 

This episode explores ADHD, or Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, and its subtypes or presentations and treatment.  It also explores whether psychostimulant medications stunt growth and whether eating too much sugar causes ADHD. 

This episode discusses dyslexia in-depth. What is involved in assessing dyslexia? What is the neuroanatomy of dyslexia?  Does dyslexia look different in English than in other languages?  And do people with dyslexia really reverse letters?  These questions and more are explored in this episode. 

This episode covers Specific Learning Disorders/Disabilities, how they used to be diagnosed (the discrepancy model) and how they are diagnosed now (using RTI).  The next episode will cover dyslexia specifically. 

This episode explores developmental disorders and disabilities, and dives more specifically into the diagnosis of Intellectual Disability.  

This episode explores dissociative disorders, including the highly controversial and popularized Dissociative Identity Disorder, formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder. 

This episode explores somatization, including conversion disorder, hypochondriasis, and Munchausen Syndrome. 

This episode discusses psychedelics, their history, and their effectiveness in treating depression. 

This episode discusses Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and its treatment

This episode explores bipolar disorders and their treatments, as well as the definitions of manic episodes and hypomanic episodes. 

In this episode, we discuss treatment for depression-- including psychopharmaceutical treatment and talk therapies. 

This episode gives a broad description of depressive disorders in the DSM-5 with more focused discussion of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD).  

This episode explores a commonly misunderstood diagnosis, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

This episode covers Social Anxiety Disorder, Selective Mutism, Separation Anxiety Disorder, and Specific Phobia.  It also covers common treatments for anxiety disorders.  

In this episode, we will discuss anxiety disorders in general and also Generalized Anxiety Disorder.  This is the first of a two-episode series on Anxiety Disorders. 

In this episode, we'll discuss the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, which mental health experts affectionately call the DSM-5.  In doing so, we'll talk about nosology, which, counter-intuitively, is not the study of noses. 

In this episode, we'll discuss different therapeutic paradigms.  In doing so, we'll touch upon COVID-19 dreams, breathing throw straws to treat anxiety, and snakes.

In this episode, we discuss different models of abnormality.  Should being left-handed-- or being a genius-- be a diagnosable condition? 

In this episode, we'll discuss the history of psychopathology from ancient times to the present. 

This episode explores media misportrayals of psychopathology.  Spoiler alert: Most of what you think you know about psychopathology is probably wrong.