Psyche

Psycho

How often do you say yes without really meaning it? Maybe instead of caving into wheedling and unwanted requests, we should learn to respect and assert our own boundaries. In this episode, we meet people who have decided to ditch life as an emotional doormat and politely, but firmly, say no.<br /><br />

Ditching Doormat Mentality

Meet the people who have decided to ditch life as an emotional doormat and politely, but firmly, say no.

When someone looks her in the eye, Christine feels like they are looking into the depths of her soul. She describes herself as "autistic and disabled" and daily life is a struggle. Her brain takes in every sound, without selecting what she should listen to, and the outside world is overwhelming and anxiety-inducing. Charlotte, a PhD student at the University of Toulouse, describes how she would try and fail to make friends by copying how others behave.

Living With Autism

Christine describes herself as "autistic and disabled" and daily life is a struggle.

Depression is a very common, and very treatable, mental health condition. But without proper support, it can be lethal. Three young adults who have suffered, or are still suffering, from severe depression explain what it's like.

Dealing With Depression

Depression is a very common, and very treatable, mental health condition. But without proper support, it can be lethal.

Narcissists are thought of as manipulators who turn everything to their advantage. But narcissists have a real problem: their sense of self is fragile and must be protected. They have moments of great confidence, followed by phases of crushing doubt. 

Confessions of a Narcissist

Narcissists have moments of great confidence, followed by phases of crushing doubt.

Based on several testimonies and expert opinions, this episode sheds light on attachment disorders, which can be caused by early life experiences. Parental divorce, abuse and harassment can result in trauma that permanently changes how the person relates to others.

The Pain of Insecure Attachment

Based on several testimonies and expert opinions, this episode sheds light on attachment disorders.

There are many paths to addiction: boredom, loneliness, sadness, past trauma or thrill-seeking. Sufferers describe how their addiction slowly took over their lives, the shame they felt, and their concealment strategies. Even if doctors understand it as a condition and not a lack of will, getting help is still very difficult for many.

The Road to Addiction

There are many paths to addiction: boredom, loneliness, sadness, past trauma or thrill-seeking.

Can we love our children too much? Is it ever OK to regret having children? And are we doomed to pass on our own childhood traumas? These issues around parenthood are difficult to address openly.

A Parent's Legacy

Lucille recounts what she felt when her husband died shortly after the birth of their child; Nadjib evokes the feeling of loss that overwhelmed him when he had to flee his country, Afghanistan; and Ramona explains how she overcame her brother's accidental death.

Journeys Through Grief

Lucille's husband died shortly after the birth of their child.

Insomnia affects people from all walks of life. Angel turns to a sleep clinic in desperation, and Silvia realises that she must relearn how to sleep at night after falling asleep at the wheel. Sandra could no longer sleep after losing a loved one and now makes ASMR videos to help other insomniacs, while Maud gave up trying and instead uses her nights to work on creative projects.

Insomnia: The Longest Night

Sandra could no longer sleep after losing a loved one and now makes ASMR videos to help other insomniacs.

A few months after breaking up with her boyfriend, Trang became plagued by doubt over whether she did the right thing. Marisoa was abandoned by her son's father during her pregnancy, and the pain of not knowing why stayed with her for years. Toralf was powerless to stop one of his best friends from drifting away from him. 

Broken Up and Broken-Hearted

A few months after breaking up with her boyfriend, Trang became plagued by doubt.

How often do you say yes without really meaning it? Maybe instead of caving into wheedling and unwanted requests, we should learn to respect and assert our own boundaries. In this episode, we meet people who have decided to ditch life as an emotional doormat and politely, but firmly, say no.

Fear is a universal emotion that is key to our survival. But what happens if you are paralysed by fear? Jens speaks about his struggles with panic attacks that can overwhelm him and therapist Remy uses hypnosis to treat patients with phobias and panic attacks.

Fear

Fear is a universal emotion that is key to our survival. But what happens if you are paralysed by it?

Finding pleasure, understanding your body, accepting your fantasies, getting rid of guilt, feeling free in spite of the boundaries imposed by society: Desire is a complex thing. This programme explores desire in its most intimate and its most uninhibited forms, freeing it from the mental prison in which it is sometimes locked.

Sexual Desire

This programme explores desire in its most intimate and its most uninhibited forms, freeing it from the mental prison in which it is sometimes locked.

Illnesses, accidents, assaults ... Faced with traumatic events, a force within us allows us to overcome and move forward: resilience. Far from being an innate characteristic, it is a capacity that we can work on.

Resilience

Leave behind society, go out into nature and find again your true wild self? In our controlled societies, the idea is tempting. Ronja von Rönne goes to meet a biker gang, for whom being wild is a way of life.

Be Wild!

Streetphilosophy

A man has enough sperm. Or so you might think - up to 600 million per ejaculation. And yet there is cause for concern: several studies have shown a significant decline in sperm count, especially in Western countries, in the last 50 years. Are we heading towards a sperm crisis?

Is There a Male Fertility Crisis?

Several studies have shown a significant decline in sperm count in the last 50 years. Are we heading towards a sperm crisis?

42: The Answer to Almost Everything

The pandemic has provided us with a painful reminder of how important physical contact is for our mental well-being. Individuals share their experiences of physical isolation.

Need a Hug?

The pandemic has provided us with a painful reminder of how important physical contact is for our mental well-being.

Psycho Bugs

Everyone experiencers fear and it has been key to humansurvival. But what happens when it overwhelms you? Jens talks about his struggles with panic attacks.

During the pandemic we have all spent a lot of time at home. But when a home is also an office and a classroom, how do we stop ourselves from drowning in too many things?

Drowning in Things

With social media artist Marque feels that she can keep in contact with her friends scattered around the world. But is too much social media feeding our anxieties and our fear of missing out?

FOMO - Wait for Me!

Carlotta had an interesting, full life. But then the virus came along and her days were all the same, stuck in her flat with no new experiences. Boredom can lead to melancholy but can it push you to make your life better?

Boredom

Boredom can lead to melancholy but can it push you to make your life better?

Bonuses and Extracts

Discover more

France’s President Emmanuel Macron forced through an unpopular reform of the country’s pension system – and the French aren’t having it. We travel to Romania to find out about a possible law to ban gambling adverts, and look at how to protect Europeans from addictions.

France’s pension reform / Gambling / Photography

Protests erupt across France in response to the government’s pension reform bill, and we explore gambling across Europe.

ARTE Europe Weekly

At once seductive and dangerous, historical myth and male fantasy, the femme fatale represents both erotic promise and a death trap to the male observer. Conceived at the end of the 19th century in the works of Gustave Moreau, Franz von Stuck and Lovis Corinth, the femme fatale was completely reinvented in the 20th century by many female artists.

Seductive and dangerous, the figure of the femme fatale in art was completely reinvented in the 20th century.

The Femme Fatale in Art

Behind his polite exterior lies a formidable leader with a ruthless character, ready to do anything to make China the world's leading power by the People’s Republic’s centenary in 2049. This well-documented portrait of the Chinese president gives an unprecedented insight into his politics and shows how Xi Jinping's personal journey has shaped his choices as he steers China towards world domination.

A portrait of the Chinese president giving an unprecedented insight into his politics and showing how Xi Jinping's personal journey has shaped his choices as he steers China towards world domination.

The New World of Xi Jinping

Many governments and organisations are wary of their employers using the social media TikTok. Does the Chinese company really serve Xi Jinping’s regime?

TikTok: A Chinese Threat?

Mapping the World Essentials

Highly influential indie rockers from Boston, famous for such tracks as Debaser and Where is my mind perform in Paris as part of a European tour for their latest album Doggerel.

Legendary and highly influential indie rockers perform in Paris as part of their European tour.

Pixies - Live at the Paris Olympia

At first glance, it's an image of innocence. A motherly milkmaid pouring out the milk in a kitchen, preparing snacks from our childhoods. But there's actually far more to her than meets the eye.

The Milkmaid by Johannes Vermeer

A famous image that at first glance looks totally innocent, but is in actual fact full of innuendo

Look but Don't Touch

Tensions between Moldova and Russia are escalating over the breakaway region of Transnistria, an investigation on how prepared Europe is for another summer of wildfires, and a report from the Dissident Club in Paris.

Tensions in Moldova / WildFires in Europe

Tensions between Moldova and Russia are escalating with street protests and controversy over Russian secret documents.

The decisive moment in 1618 that triggered the Thirty Years' War between Catholics and Protestants and changed the course of European history.

The decisive moment in 1618 that triggered the Thirty Years' War between Catholics and Protestants. 

The Defenestration of Prague

Lyubov, which means love in Russian, is 80 years old and lives alone on the shores of Lake Baikal. She bears witness to this wonder of nature and possesses and unbreakable bond with the world’s deepest lake in Siberia. Her life here is hard, especially in winter, but she would not live anywhere else.

On the shores of Lake Baikal, an old woman lives alone in a beautiful place that is dear to her heart.

The Old Woman and the Lake

An exclusive investigation into the Russian paramilitary organisation Wagner, headed by oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin. 2,500 documents were leaked from Prigozhin’s servers by anti-Putin hackers, shedding light on this secretive group of mercenaries, a key element in the war in Ukraine.

Data Sources

An exclusive investigation into the Russian paramilitary organisation Wagner, headed by oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin. 

The Prigozhin Papers

A look at how we are getting better at managing and conserving water supplies in drier parts of our planet like southern Spain, Israel and the desert city of Las Vegas.

Water

 A look at how we are getting better at managing and conserving water supplies in drier parts of our planet like southern Spain, Israel and the desert city of Las Vegas.

Good News From Our Planet

Working her way out of poverty as a sex worker all while supporting her family in Romania. That’s Andrada’s goal. She speaks confidently and openly about her work in a red-light district in Germany’s Ruhr region.  
This programme by German channel ARD is part of The European Collection, a joint initiative of European public media (ARD, ARTE, France Télévisions, SRG SSR and ZDF), coordinated by ARTE.

Portrait of a sex worker in the Ruhr region, Germany.  

Hard Life – I sell sex for money

In El Salvador, gangs have terrorised the country for decades. But when Nayib Bukele was elected president in 2019, becoming the youngest head of state in Latin America, he vowed to take back control from the gangs by installing a state of emergency.

El Salvador: The coolest dictator in the world?

When Nayib Bukele was elected president in 2019, he vowed to take back control from the gangs by installing a state of emergency.

ARTE Reportage

The new Windsor agreement between the EU and the UK is hoped to improve relations and solve the Northern Ireland issue.

Northern Ireland: Windsor Agreement

Eclectic American singer-songwriter Ben Harper performs from his latest album, 2022’s Bloodline Maintenance. Filmed at Ground Control in Paris.

Ground Control

Eclectic American singer-songwriter Ben Harper performs from his latest album, 2022’s Bloodline Maintenance.

Ben Harper

Music director of the WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cristian Măcelaru takes his musicians on a tour of his homeland, Romania. A tour stopping in Timişoara, his hometown. On the programme: The Piano Concerto No. 2 by Johannes Brahms with soloist Simon Trpčeski.

Concert from the European Capital of Culture 2023

Conductor Cristian Măcelaru and the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne perform Brahms and Klaus Lang in Romania.

Cristian Mācelaru in Timişoara

“You can let yourself go and give up, or you can keep fighting.” That is Daniel’s motto. After many years spent incarcerated and homeless, he is now a magazine salesman and is managing to get by.

This programme by German channel ARD is part of The European Collection, a joint initiative of European public media (ARD, ARTE, France Télévisions, SRG SSR and ZDF), coordinated by ARTE.

Better than prison. Portrait of a street magazine seller.

Hard Life – I spent half my life in prison

Mustafa is 28 years old and grew up in the Ratingen-West district in Düsseldorf, his “hood”. It’s an area with high unemployment rates and is home to people from many different nationalities, both a melting pot and socially deprived. Mustafa now runs a kiosk in the middle of the district, on Berliner Platz. Between high-rises, friendships and poverty, we discover his life.
This programme by German channel ARD is part of The European Collection, a joint initiative of European public media (ARD, ARTE, France Télévisions, SRG SSR and ZDF), coordinated by ARTE.

Portrait of a kiosk owner in a socially deprived area of Düsseldorf, Germany.

Hard Life – I work in the middle of the ghetto

Far from the metropolitan centre of Tel Aviv, Sderot show another side of Israel. One with high-levels of social deprivation and strong support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government’s controversial judicial reforms.

Sderot - The Other Israel

Far from the metropolitan centre of Tel Aviv, Sderot is a different Israel with strong support for Netanjahu and high levels of social deprivation.

Meet Olivier Latry, the organist of the famous Notre-Dame in Paris: one of the most prestigious organist gigs in the world. Join him on an exciting musical and historical journey to the heart of the organ.

Meet Olivier Latry, the organist of the famous Notre-Dame in Paris

Psyche

Psyche

Living With Autism

Psyche

Dealing With Depression

Psyche

Confessions of a Narcissist

Psyche

The Pain of Insecure Attachment

Psyche

The Road to Addiction

Psyche

A Parent's Legacy

PsycheDitching Doormat Mentality

You may also like

Streetphilosophy

Be Wild!

Psyche

Fear

42: The Answer to Almost Everything

Is There a Male Fertility Crisis?

Psyche

Resilience

Psycho Bugs

Need a Hug?

Psycho Bugs

Fear

The most viewed videos on ARTE

ARTE Europe Weekly

France’s pension reform / Gambling / Photography

The Femme Fatale in Art

The New World of Xi Jinping

Mapping the World Essentials

TikTok: A Chinese Threat?

Pixies - Live at the Paris Olympia

Look but Don't Touch

The Milkmaid by Johannes Vermeer