TeX inserts some vertical space to ensure text elements don't overlap. For these special cases, you could consider using \smash - this removes all vertical box lengths (height and depth) from its argument. So, you would use \smash{$\psi_\text{pseudo}$}, say.
Left shows the original, right shows the output when using \smash (Click to enlarge):

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}% http://ctan.org/pkg/amsmath
\begin{document}
\begin{figure}
\caption{Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.
Pellentesque cursus odio cursus leo tempus auctor. Quisque
porttitor diam ac urna bibendum a hendrerit sem auctor.
Vestibulum dictum congue tincidunt. In tortor neque, ullamcorper
nec ultrices eu, vulputate eu enim. Suspendisse vulputate
aliquam est a volutpat. Integer ut nisl sem. Phasellus sit
amet metus mi, nec consectetur mauris. Suspendisse potenti.
Curabitur gravida libero nulla. Quisque at nunc sit amet
risus ullamcorper rhoncus at at dui \smash{$\psi^2_\text{pseudo}$}.
Nunc leo odio, vestibulum eu mattis ut, gravida in leo~$x^2$.}
\end{figure}
\end{document}
Note though that any changes in the paragraph layout might cause problems in the paragraph flows differently.
figurefor your equations, you could set them inside a subsidiary equation environment, andequationwould take some care of the vertical spacing (see e.g. the addendum to this or this answer, where spacing to the upper paragraph can be, and indeed is decreased). If the comments so far don't help, please provide some code. – dgs Jun 11 '12 at 19:09