Posts

The Need to Know Everything: Anxiety’s Obsession With Certainty

As a person who struggles with high levels of anxiety, I have learned that my mind does not want peace, it wants certainty. Knowing what’s coming next. From organising my entire life in a planner to knowing who thinking what or what will happen when the situation has not even occurred yet. It’s like being on survival mode 24/7, because my brain is building maps of possibilities just to feel safe walking through the fog. What surprises me? People still don’t truly understand what anxiety is. So let me clear it up. According to the  American Psychiatric Association (2013) , anxiety is characterised by excessive worry and apprehensive expectation about a variety of events or activities, occurring more days than not for at least six months. People with anxiety often find it difficult to control these worries, and it is typically accompanied by physical and mental symptoms such as restlessness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, irritability, muscle tension, and sleep disturbances. Th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Music That Raised Me (A Series): Part 1 – Nirvana

The first time I ever heard this band, I was sixteen. And of course, like most people, the first song I stumbled upon was Smells Like Teen Spirit . I didn’t know much back then. I just remember Krist Novoselic’s crazy bass, distorted guitar riff, the relentless drums of Dave Grohl, and the way Kurt Cobain's voice felt like it wasn’t trying to impress anyone. It wasn’t trying to be beautiful. It wasn’t trying to be perfect. It just was raw, and loud. I heard the song once and moved on and didn't think much of it. Three years passed. Now, I’m nineteen. And I’m writing this blog with a Nirvana playlist on loop, a ritual that’s turned into daily habit . Every growl, every scream, every mumble somehow mirrors what I feel but can’t put into words. Or won’t. I’ve been obsessed with music since I was fourteen, not just as something to pass time, but it fills the gaps between my thoughts. This time, it wasn’t through Teen Spirit . It was Come As You Are . The moment I heard the word “me...
Post a Comment
Read more

Inside the Adolescent Mind: A Psychological Review of Netflix’s Adolescence

Recently, in my social psychology class, our professor had us watch the new Netflix series, Adolescence. I had no idea of it when she started it, but as I watched it, I was HOOKED. I’m not someone who would willingly watch crime and thriller, but this show displays the complications of modern teenagers, especially from a psychological point of view. The story revolves around a 13-year-old boy, Jamie Miller , who is accused of murdering his classmate Katie Leonard. What makes this show so compelling, however, isn't the crime mystery that has been committed but the figuring out of Jamie's world. Because as the series progresses, it becomes clear that this isn’t just about violence or guilt, it's about emotional disconnection, identity confusion, and the dangerous spaces some adolescents fall into when they’re left unseen. Now, I am NOT defending Jamie by any means, but the psychology involved in this series tells the reader why he acted the way he did. The series discusses t...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Art of Romanticizing Your Life (With a Latte in Hand)

One thing I have learnt over the past few years is that the word “romanticize” doesn’t mean just making grand gestures or living luxuriously. But what it does mean is to find beauty in the ordinary, embracing small joys, and making everyday moments feel special. It took me a while to understand this. Looking at the lives of people on social media who were always on the go, outside, and living their lives to the fullest, while I was in my bed, in a tank top and shorts, wondering if I will ever be able to experience what they were doing. Being a teenager with all those insecurities made it even worse. But it was always the idea of laying in bed and doing nothing that held me back, because what's better than staying in, watching a show and getting the best sleep ever? I know it sounds tempting, and trust me there’s nothing wrong with that. What makes it wrong is the process of comparing yourself and diving into misery along with it. And I’m still the same person, well, not completely ...
1 comment
Read more