Dr. Gary Bell's Absurd Psychology

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 the distinct experiences and challenges faced by these groups and advocates for policies and practices that address their specific needs and rights. Tune in and learn how politics is used to dumb down the world!

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 disorganized milling-about familiar to generations past. Tune in and learn how childhood is declining and what to do about it!

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 run media brain washing our country, youth and naively ignorant people. Media has been confiscated by elites, corporate agendas and one political party. Tune in and learn how to reclaim our (and our children's) brain, our country and a free world!

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 learn all about how to get your kids back in school!

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 marrying their best friend? Tune in and learn all about what makes best friends, our expectations and our differences!

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 “emotionless” emotion. Tuen in and learn how to identify and work through the weight of apathy!

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. Controlled by the ego, you crave the material rewards this world has to offer, and, at the same time, you fear losing what you’ve obtained. The ego in the context of this post refers to a person's sense of self-importance, identification, or attachment. The problem is that when we become attached to who we think we are and then try to convince others that this is who we are as well, we create a prison for ourselves. The ego can present challenges in various aspects of life. Tune in and learn how to manage this delicate source of strength!

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 and other sexual problems. The more severe these symptoms are, the more significantly they impact a relationship. This can lead to problems maintaining relationships. Evidence suggests that people who have BPD tend to have a higher number of romantic relationships because their symptoms make it difficult to maintain a healthy relationship. Tune in and learn how to be married to these crazy makers!

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 restore your marriage, but still, nothing has changed, a divorce might be inevitable.  Regardless of your circumstances, if you’ve been asking yourself if your marriage is failing, there are several telltale signs that signal it’s time to end it. Tune in and learn all about pondering divorce!