The Hardcore Self-Help Podcast with Duff the Psych

Hello, friends! First off, please go check out my TEDx talk at http://duffthepsych.com/tedx it would mean the world to me. This episode is another question and answer session. I'm getting sick, so pardon any sniffles or brain farts. Here are the questions that I cover: Why do I still feel anxiety even though I know everything is fine in my brain? What can I do when I feel depression first coming on? How can I help my daughter with borderline personality disorder? As always you can email me your questions to [email protected] or hit my up on social media at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych

Episode 50, guys! Woohooo!!! Man. Crazy stuff. Thank you SO FREAKIN MUCH for your continued collaboration on this podcast. Your questions and inspiration keep it going. In this episode, I reflect a bit on the journey so far and then share a few victory stories sent in by listeners. It is always important to give yourself credit for big and small moments of success when you are living with mental illness. Thank you. Thank you thank you thank you! Let's keep this goin. Send me your questions to [email protected] and I'll see you next week.

Hey, everyone! Please continue to send me in your mental health success stories both big and small. I have a few good ones, but I want more! I will be reading them on the next episode, which is freakin' episode 50!!! SO AWESOME WTFBBQ!!! Ahem. Here are today's questions. Should I tell my friend's therapist about her suicidal behaviors? How should I talk to my boss about my depression? Can you permanently get anxiety from smoking weed? You can send me your questions and success stories to [email protected] or on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych

Hello, friends! GASP! I forgot to record a podcast. I mean... I remembered, but I didn't remember in time for my usual midnight upload time. Oh well. You probably don't care. HEY! I would love to hear your personal mental health success stories big and small. Please send them over to me in the next couple weeks for episode 50! Here are this week's questions: How can I "get over" a sexual assault that happened a couple months ago? Why do I have a hard time sleeping with other people in the room? What is it like having a spouse with a mental illness? As always you can send me your questions (and success stories) to [email protected] or on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych

This episode is another deep dive episode. I decided at the last minute to go ahead and do a little rundown of my personal tips for public speaking. In particular these are tips that help me with memorization, managing stress, and knocking it out of the park when it comes to "performance" style speeches such as keynotes or TED style talks. I recently did a TEDx talk in my community, which is what prompted this entire topic. Stay tuned for that video once it's released. Enjoy these tips and let me know if I should do anything special for Episode 50! Hit me up on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych or at [email protected]

Hello, my friends! Just wanted to say thanks again so much for always sending in such awesome, honest, and brave questions. You guys are amazing. In this episode I take a couple questions that are related to dealing with significant others who have mental illness. Here are the questions covered: Is there a genetic link for mental illness? Is it inherited from your family? What can I do about my 27 year old daughter who lives at home and is abusive toward me? What can I do about my friend of 20 years who has abandonment issues and drains me emotionally? As always you can send your questions to [email protected] or hit me up on social media @duffthepsych.

Hello, friends! In this episode I take three new awesome questions. We cover the whole board from going heavy into some complicated terminology about neurobiology and testing all the way to hitting you with some hard truths about "saving" a relationship. Please consider sharing the show with the people in your life and on social media. You never know who might need to hear the answers to these questions. Here are the specific questions covered this episode: Years ago, my IQ was estimated to be low. Can your IQ improve over time and should I be tested again? How can I save my marriage with my wife who has mental illness and drinking issues? What is a normal level of anxiety? When should you get help? As always you can send me your questions to [email protected] or you can hit me up on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych

Alrighty, folks! Got another 3 questions to answer for you today. First off I wanted to say thanks for the recent influx of questions. I have many to choose from, which is awesome. Keep sending them in! As a reminder, you can find info about my books at hardcoreselfhelp.com or by looking up hardcore self help on Amazon. So here are the questions covered in this episode: Should I take my friend up on an offer of hypnotherapy/NLP? How can I manage my obsession over the news and fear of the current global climate? Should I be worried about medicating my 8 year old child for serious psychiatric issues? As always you can send me your questions to [email protected] or @duffthepsych on all social media.

Heavy hitting questions today. Love it! I'm a little sick in this episode, so please pardon any congestion etc. That said, there are some really good points in this episode, particularly in relation to the first question. I dropped a couple links in the intro. Here they are: http://duffthepsych.com/dementia for my new book and http://duffthepsych.com/resources for all sorts of psych resources that I like. Here are the questions covered in this episode: How can I bring up suicidal thoughts to my doctor? What can I do about my agoraphobia? How can I stop being paranoid in my relationship? As always please send me your questions (and share the show). You can reach me via email at [email protected] or on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych

Hey everyone! Back with another question and answer episode after a nice little holiday. I am slightly scatter brained this episode because people kept ringing the door and interrupting me. Grrrrrrr! This episode has some great questions though, so I hope you find some useful bits of information here. This is what I cover: What should I expect from medication for depression? How can I address my anxiety about money? How can I motivate my depressed spouse to clean the house? If you have questions, please send them over to me at [email protected] or on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych

In this episode I do something pretty different. Rather than take mental health questions, I present three ideas that I "stole" from people in fields OTHER than psychology. However, these are ideas that I think have great applications to life, emotions, and mental health. Two ideas are stolen from Tim Ferriss, who is the author of the 4 Hour book series and has an amazing podcast called the Tim Ferriss Show. The other idea is stolen from Chris Hardwick, who is the creator of the Nerdist network and a television host. Here are the ideas I would like you to ponder: Do I need to gain it the same way I lost it? What would this look like if it were easy? You can not reason someone out of a position that they did not reason themselves into. Next week will most likely be another Q&A, so send your questions over to [email protected] or hit me up on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych

This episode has some tough questions! I'm glad you aren't going easy on me. Keep them coming, please! Here is what I cover: How can you tell the difference between self-care and just being lazy or avoiding? What can I do when I am jealous of my friend making close relationships with other people? What should I do, as a senior in high school, about my mental health issues? Please continue to send me your awesome questions to [email protected] or on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych

On this episode I do a deep dive into physical symptoms and cues that are related to anxiety. Often people feel a physical sensation and their brain misinterprets it for anxiety, which prompts those familiar feelings of panic. We talk all about that. As a reminder, you can get a free audiobook on me by checking out http://audibletrial.com/duff and you can check out MY books over at http://hardcoreselfhelp.com Next week is a Q and A episode, so please send me your questions at [email protected] or http://twitter.com/duffthepsych

Great variety of questions this week. I start the episode off by sharing some of my personal strategies for coping with stress and anxiety. Then it's straight into the questions. In one of the questions, I mention an earlier episode focusing on internet therapy, so here's the link for that: http://duffthepsych.com/episode10. Here are the questions I take: How can I tell me Mom that I need help without her being disappointed in me? What should I do now that my therapist abandoned me? How do I get back to my old self when chronic illness has me depressed? Please send me more questions! You can reach me via email at [email protected] or on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych

Thanks for your patience with my little break last week. I needed to allow myself to be human for a bit. Hopefully you enjoyed and made good use of the guided relaxation. This week it's back to the questions. I take some tough but important questions in this episode. Here's what we cover: Is it possible for a relationship to survive emotional abuse? Should I be worried about my word finding difficulties? How do I feel better about cutting ties with my family? As always you can send me your questions at [email protected] or on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych

Things have been weird over here in the states. I need a break from podcasting this week and I think we could all use a little relaxation. Whether this relaxation is to help you cope or to rejuvenate you to get back out there and keep at it... you deserve a few deep breaths. What I uploaded for you this week is a guided muscle relaxation. There is no intro or anything like that. I just dive straight into a walkthrough of how you can use your breath and muscle tension to put yourself into a deep state of relaxation. Enjoy and take good care of yourselves.

Thanks so much to those of you who recently left iTunes reviews. I really appreciate it. These are the three episodes that I took on this episode: What can I do to help my brother with OCD? What if social anxiety gets in the way of therapy? How can I cope with my extremely stressful job? I also mentioned some links in this episode... Sorting Therapy: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sorting-therapy-sort-colors/id1123877452?mt=8 Teen Vogue Article: http://www.teenvogue.com/story/what-to-expect-at-first-therapy-session-counseling Dissertation: http://duffthepsych.com/internettherapy TalkSpace Episode: http://duffthepsych.com/episode10 As always you can send me your questions at [email protected] or http://twitter.com/duffthepsych

Hello! A nice wide ranging set of questions this time. Don't be afraid to send in any questions that you have. There are no bad questions (within reason...)! Here's what we cover in this episode: How do you find a therapist who meets certain demographic specifications? Is pain a necessary part of changing behavior? Should you have firm boundaries with a parent? As always you can send your questions to [email protected] or hit me up on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych

Another great episode full of your questions. We start off pretty heavy and then move to some lighter questions. I did record this in the middle of the day and my son started having a meltdown upstairs, so if you listen close you can hear some of him crying toward the end of the episode. Oops! I would really appreciate it if you shared the show with your friends and/or wrote a review of the show on iTunes. THANKS!! Here are the questions in this episode: How can I care for myself and start to feel alive again with an alcoholic partner and an overwhelming life? What should I do about a therapist that talks about himself too much? How can I focus on self-improvement when I'm overwhelmed with school and work? As always you can send me your questions big or small to [email protected] http://twitter.com/duffthepsych or http://facebook.com/duffthepsych

You asked for it! Here's a deep dive episode all about Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. I briefly mention this, but I didn't give nearly enough emphasis to the fact that you can have the primarily inattentive type, the hyperactive/impulsive type, or the combined type. Oops! In the episode, I mention my interview on the MyCoda podcast, which you can find here: http://www.mycoda.net/session-020/ You should also be checking me out on facebook http://facebook.com/duffthepsych Next week is a Q&A, so send me your questions!! [email protected]

I'm back from a quick little vacation and ready to get back into the grind! This episode, I took three questions from the same person. Thought it would be an interesting thing to do and they sent in a nice variety of questions. Here's what is covered: -Would group therapy or individual therapy be better for me? -How can parents create an emotionally open environment for their kids? -What do I do if I feel comfortable in my depression? As always you can reach me through email at [email protected] or on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych

I know I saw this every week, but we have some awesome questions today. I get the opportunity to give into some tough questions and hopefully provide a little insight into some of the more difficult mental health issues. Don't forget to check out http://audibletrial.com/duff if you want a free audiobook. Keep the awesome questions coming. Shoot me an email to [email protected] or find me at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych or http://facebook.com/duffthepsych

In this episode, I do something a bit different. Earlier today (9/27/16) I gave a professional talk to a group of people about dementia. The point of my talk was to give them a thorough understanding of dementia in general and to describe some of the specific types that you might encounter. This episode is a little more straight forward and informational than my other shows, but if you are interested in sitting through a 1-hour crash course with me, I encourage you to have a listen! If you have any additional questions, shoot me an email to [email protected]

Hello, friends! As always thank you for continuing to supply me with a wealth of super awesome, honest, and candid questions. Today is no exception. I cover three really great listener questions in depth. I need your feedback! What topics would you like me to cover in my future "deep dive" episodes? Here are the questions for this episode: Should I be worried about the critical voice in my head and what can I do about my crippling anxiety? How can I get over a break up when there is money involved? Does this count as emotional abuse? What should I do about it? As always you can send me your questions to [email protected] or on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych

I really enjoyed the variety of questions in this episode. Please keep sending me in such awesome questions because they keep the show fresh and interesting. This is your show too! I share a little secret about the Audible Trial in this episode, so head by http://audibletrial.com/duff to put it to good use. Here are the questions that I cover: As a man, what can I do to better deal with my anorexic tendencies? What should I do when I can't handle hearing the emotional burden from my friends because it drains me and gets me worked up? Should I be worried about my 4-year-old's imaginary friends when there is a family history of schizophrenia? As always you can reach me through email at [email protected] or on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych

This episode is a deep dive look into how you can suck less at sleeping. Sponsored this week by audible. Check out http://audibletrial.com/duff for a free month of audible and one free book. Here are the cliffnotes of this episode: Good habits related to sleep are called "Sleep Hygiene" Most of it comes down to association and conditioning You should have a consistent sleep routine You should ONLY sleep in your bed vs working on the laptop, using your phone etc. Get your phone out of the room Wind down and go offline 30 min before bed Avoid exercise, caffeine etc. Keep sending me your questions to [email protected] or on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych

Super awesome and very brave questions today with some common themes between them. Thank you all so much for continuing to be active participants in this show. Not only are you doing something great for yourself by asking your questions, but you may be helping someone else with a similar concern. Here's what we cover in today's episode: Will my therapist break confidentiality if I disclose information about past self-harm? What should I do if my therapist feels TOO emotionally close to me? Is my current relationship just another form of self-harm? As always you can reach me on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych or via email at [email protected]

Before I talk about the episode, get your buns over to http://duffthepsych.com/giveaway so that you can enter to win some awesome free stuff. Ending this week. Anyway, this was another awesome possum question and answer episode. Super pleased with the variety of questions. Nice work and please keep them coming. Here is what we cover in this episode: How do I cope with feeling detached from my body and experiences? What should I do about a toxic friend? What happens when you "know" for a fact that you are bad. Therapy can't help with that, right? As always you can reach my on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych or email me [email protected].

This is another deep dive episode where I focus on one topic and give you more in depth information than I typically do on the Q&A episodes. In this one, I talk all about the different terminology related to mental health treatment. I talk about the different terms for treatment itself such as therapy, psychotherapy, and counseling as well as the different people who provide services such as psychologists, psychiatrists, therapists, neurologists, and more. Fair warning- this information is pretty USA based since some of the terminology varies, but I hope it is helpful nonetheless! Next week will indeed be another Q&A episode, so keep sending your questions into me at [email protected] or http://twitter.com/duffthepsych

On this episode, I talk with Heather Gray from ChooseToHaveItAll.com about how she has been able to overcome the very difficult speed bumps in her life by being brave and re-choosing to live a happy life. She is a super strong woman and I think that definitely comes through in the interview. We did experience a few little technical issues during the interview, but I tried my best to edit around them. Apologies if I missed anything. Please check out Heather on twitter at http://twitter.com/HGrayLICSW and visit her website at http://www.choosetohaveitall.com/ Next week is another Q&A so make sure you are sending in your questions!

Another FANTASTIC grouping of questions today. This one is a little on the longer side, but I think there is a lot of valuable content to be had here. Above all I think that these questions were very BRAVE. Keep them coming! Don't forget to check out the NEW AUDIOBOOK for F**k Depression at http://hardcoreselfhelp.com Here are the questions that are covered in this episode: Should I be concerned about my feelings of anxiety and depression or is this just normal for a 14 year old? How can I help my husband be less hard on my daughter about her weight and diet? Should I avoid going into the mental health profession due to my own issues? Don't forget to send your questions in to http://twitter.com/duffthepsych or [email protected]

This was a fun one for me. In this episode, I do a "deep dive" into Pokemon Go and mental health. I talk about why the game is so effective and addicting as well as how that can be used in a very real way to combat mental health issues. I also address one particular way that it could cause distress for some. Please continue the conversation on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych and let me know your thoughts!

This episode fought back! My computer crashed when I recorded it the first time and I lost everything. Oh well. No biggie. Re-recorded it for you here and I don't mind at all because the questions were so great! Here's what we cover: -Why don't my friends notice when I don't show up? -How can I help my patients who seem traumatized from their medical treatment? -Is it worth it to keep trying when I'm so depressed? As always you can send me your questions on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych or through email at [email protected]

I'm not sick anymore! Yayyyy! This is another Q&A episode with some of my favorite questions yet. Don't forget to check the new merch at: http://duffthepsych.com Here are the questions covered: -Is it ever smart to just avoid situations that might trigger anxiety? -How can I help a teen with a rough upbringing? -Are my repressed memories of abuse real? Don't forget to send me questions on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych or via email at [email protected]

I'm sick! Therefore I am going to save my voice and skip the Q & A this week. Instead, I have a treat for you. This is a full chapter from my upcoming audiobook for Hardcore Self Help: F**k Depression. It is chapter 8 entitled Be Nice To The Future You. I talk all about setting yourself for success instead of self-sabotaging like usual. Enjoy! Please consider following me on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych or join my email list at http://www.duffthepsych.com/subscribe/ so you can be the first to know when the audiobook drops!

So this is interesting. I have my first Anonymous guest on the show. This person offered to come on and talk about their experiences with many different topics such as self-harm, childhood sexual abuse, and learning to take chances with the support of ongoing psychotherapy. She also generously offered to take follow up questions through email at [email protected]. Feel free to shoot her a message to say thanks for sharing her story! Next week will be another Q&A episode, so send me your questions on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych or through email at [email protected]

Welcome to another question and answer episode. Some really fantastic questions this time around. Thank you so much for sending them in. I also give a little update about my next audiobook! Here's what is covered in this episode: -How to deal with binge eating as a man -How to reduce panic attacks -How to "fire" a therapy client As always, you can reach me on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych or email me at [email protected]

This week is another fantastic interview. I got the chance to sit and talk with a friend of mine, Andrea Gustafson, about her experiences with self-harm. More specifically, we talk about non-suicidal cutting, which means slicing yourself with a razor while NOT intending to kill yourself. It was super brave of Andrea to put herself out there and be honest in this episode, so please consider dropping her a line over on twitter at http://twitter.com/ajgus83 to say thank you! Next week will be another Q & A episode, so as always send your questions to me on twitter http://twitter.com/duffthepsych or through email [email protected]

First off - super sorry about the technical glitches this past week. Had to switch to a new webhost because my old one (rhymes with shmost shmator) was being incredibly unhelpful in getting my site back up. That said, we should be in the clear now! This is a Q&A episode. You all send in some fantastic questions this week and I am super excited to share them. Here's what I cover in this episode: -How can I help my daughter who seems to have anxiety like mine? -Do I have sexual addiction or is my conservative background blowing things out of proportion? -How do you deal with differing terminology in therapy? As always, you can reach my on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych or through email at [email protected]

This week I interview the lovely, talented, and down to earth Angel Giuffria. Angel is a congenital amputee who is missing a large portion of her left arm. She has used prosthetics all throughout her life and currently uses a bionic arm, which allows her to grip and rotate her hand. We cover all sorts of interesting topics, so please enjoy our wide-ranging interview. Currently Angel is keeping quite busy by working as an actress, informing the masses through public speaking, and grinding out the rest of her graduate school program. Find more of Angel on twitter at https://twitter.com/aannggeellll or on her imdb page at http://www.imdb.com/name/nm6262260/?ref_=nmmd_md_nm

I really liked the questions in this episode. Quite a variety here. Please forgive my more subdued voice - I had a long day full of talking. Anyway, here are the questions that I cover: 1 - How to overcome the impostor syndrome (feeling like you are a fraud). 2 - How to have good relationships when you have intense, codependent tendencies. 3 - What you can do about upset stomach with anxiety. As always you can send your questions to http://twitter.com/duffthepsych or email [email protected]

This is a super interesting interview! I got a chance to speak to Shannon McFarlin who is a therapist from Talkspace. Talkspace is one of the biggest platforms for internet-based psychotherapy for an affordable price. I do private online therapy, but I was not familiar with larger platforms like Talkspace, so this was totally enlightening for me. I walked away with a very positive impression. If you or a loved one is thinking about trying out online therapy, check out http://talkspace.com and be sure to visit Shannon and say thank you over at http://shannonmcfarlin.com.

Got another episode full of very thought provoking listener questions for you today. If you would like to add any thoughts to my answers, tweet me @duffthepsych and I will retweet you! The questions in this episode are: 1. Is it okay to hug your therapist? 2. When should I bring up my bumpy relationship history with my new partner? 3. Should I change therapists? As always you can send me questions on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych or you can email me at [email protected]

In this episode, I interview Lindsay Istace who is the creator or Rage Yoga (http://rageyoga.com). You have probably heard of Rage Yoga already since it blew up on the news and social media. It is an alternative approach to yoga that strips away the BS and encourages you to release your inner tension through the use of a few choice expletives and "fist unicorn" additions to your normal yoga poses. This was a really insightful interview and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did. Please take a minute to check out all things rage yoga: http://rageyoga.com http://twitter.com/rageyoga https://www.facebook.com/rageyoga As a reminder, you can always reach me with feedback or questions at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych or [email protected]

In this episode, I answer three super awesome questions that all have to do with different aspects of relationships. 1- How to cope with a severely depressed spouse when you are prone to depression and anxiety yourself. 2- How to break down the walls that prevent you from truly connecting with other people. 3- How to "get over" the loss of a relationship. As always, you can reach my at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych or via email at [email protected]

This episode features a great interview with a new friend, Mike Billstrom from http://theartofgrowth.com. Mike talks about how he had to grow up very quickly to overcome an extremely turbulent upbringing. He found himself in the throes of depression, anxiety, and terrible self-esteem. That is until he found inspiration in the most unlikely of places...

Another awesome episode full of listener questions. Don't forget to send in your questions to me on twitter (http://twitter.com/duffthepsych) or via email ([email protected]). In this episode, I cover these really interesting questions: 1- What can I do about my social anxiety when I have to interact with important people? 2- Is there hope for me in recovering from my sexual abuse? 3- Should I worry about hallucinations that come along with my migraines?

This is an awesome episode. I welcome my very first guest, Ryan, to the show. He is a buddy of mine from college and we talk about his experiences with depression. I am really happy with this interview because Ryan was so willing to talk candidly and openly about things that just don't seem to be talked about enough in every day life. He has an awesome personal blog and I reference a particular post that he wrote about depression, which you can find here: https://trecenti.wordpress.com/2016/03/18/depression/ As always, you can send me your questions, thoughts, feedback, suggestions etc. via twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych or email them to me at [email protected] Check out my books at http://hardcoreselfhelp.com and shoot me an email if you can't afford them for any reason (you don't need to tell me why).

In this episode I ask you for your reviews and take some wonderful listener questions. You can send your questions to http://twitter.com/duffthepsych or email them to [email protected]. First question: What if I am too aware of my anxiety? Second question: How to deal with panic attacks aside from medication? Third question: Are pets actually beneficial to your mental health? As always, check out my books at http://hardcoreselfhelp.com

In this episode, I make a few short announcements and then take a fewawesome questions from listeners. You can send your questions tohttp://twitter.com/duffthepsych or email them [email protected] question: How to avoid explosive anger like my dad?Second question: How can I find services without insurance?Third question: Can quitting cigarettes lead to depression?As always, check out my books at http://hardcoreselfhelp.com