The Abnormal Psychologist

Were the Salem witches bewitched—or was something else haunting them? The true “horror” wasn’t witches or demons—it was how human psychology under stress led to neighbor turning on neighbor. This is the first of its kind episode-- a live recording with a student!

In this episode, I reflect on recently attending the Pearson ADHD Summit, and I discuss ADHD in females, ADHD and social anxiety, and management of ADHD symptoms. I also respond to listener criticism on my encopresis episode

Sidenote: It's been so long since I've podcasted, I'm rusty This episode, recorded on Father's Day, riffs briefly about fatherhood and mental health (while making a cool announcement) before delving into parasocial relationships. We discuss what parasocial relationships are using diverse examples such as Dora the Explorer, Taylor Swift, and social media influencers.

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.

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

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."

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 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 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.

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.

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

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