Lived Experience
Stories on lived experience
OCD is so much more than handwashing or tidying. As a historian with the disorder, here’s what I’ve learned.
While compulsive behaviour such as handwashing and checking is widely perceived as “representative” of OCD, the tormenting experience of having obsessional thoughts is still rarely acknowledged and discussed.
A nightmare and a miracle turn 19
The story of the boarding pass I refuse to throw away.
Meet Ikea, psychotherapist
Assembling furniture for the first time in your life = being in your body = quietening the noise in your head.
What if I am out of words?
Notes on silence (and the future of Sanity).
"Don't get into trouble"
Up close with learned helplessness.
"You always come to me"
Doctors said he wouldn't live past thirty. Chhotka made a fool of them. He was my safe space. And he was the freest man I've ever known.
Breaking good
A visual map to understand intergenerational suffering.
What my maddening itch taught me
We need to talk about the broken link between physical and mental health care.
🗝️ Sanity Classics: Diagnosis - angel or demon?
Mental health diagnoses are often attacked for being unscientific, oppressive, and prone to abuse. But for many, they remain the only route to dignity and sanity.
The hills where my ambition came to die
Ambition helped me stay alive but not live. Now, it's time for it to rest.
Why do you feel it is your job to save the world?
How careers are shaped by childhood trauma.
The archaeology of depression
Five years ago - when mental health wasn't 'hot' - I started a public diary of depression. It changed my life.