How being clumsy made me a better teacher

And how my experience can help you. Yep, this would be me. I’ve always been a little clumsy. It’s why I’ve never ever been great at sports — any sport. Not that I was outrightly terrible, mind you: I did achieve passable competence at football and table tennis (with a lot of practice, but who’s asking?). Wondering what I …

How to relate with (and help) an insecure person

…without driving yourself nuts Everyone knows and has to relate with an insecure person. Maybe it’s your boss, or a colleague, or a friend, or a spouse. This article is for the scenario where the insecure person is someone you care about — which probably rules out boss and colleague, but who knows? (Not that I couldn’t write …

The German word that’s changed how I see people

(Bonus: an exercise to go with it that you can do with kids) Early on in my psychiatry training, I was exposed to two concepts that never actually came up in any exams. But they stuck in my head, because they helped make sense of something I’d observed as a generally practising doctor, and have proved …

Not all thinking about death is morbid

A meditation on “dark” subjects Photo: Neil Thomas I often think about what others consider dark topics. Pain. Suffering. Death. Evil. And I’m not just interested in them for their own sake — which is why I don’t consider my interest morbid (as some have described it), but rather for the questions that they raise. I’ve always been one to ask …

Spiderman, the Flash and why outsiders are easy prey to terrorists

(Or, why you should reach out to that young person you know who’s acting out.) “So to become an Avenger, are there like, trials, or…?” So call me late to the party, but I just saw the amazingness that is the Spiderman Homecoming trailer today! I’ve loved Spidey since I was a geeky secondary school student who …

On Mourning Prince—and Other Icons

A response to those who wonder I was thinking tonight about my longstanding love of fantasy, and then it hit me… Fantasy always leaves me mourning. The thought was a surprise, and got me thinking it could perhaps explain the reaction to Prince, and before him, David Bowie and Whitney and MJ and all the icons …

Why do people who have experienced violence act unexpectedly?

And what can YOU do to help? This piece was originally posted on Bella Naija. I had a client once who had been involved with a cult. And in telling me about the experience, it was striking to observe the swinging between recognising how messed up the experience had been and defending the person behind it. …

Why the attack on Ambode is retrogressive for mental health

Why the attack on Ambode is retrogressive for mental health This post was first published on my blog, DocAyomide.com. So I woke up the other day to this piece of news going round: Are you kidding me?! I was upset by that headline, but I thought, “Let me read the article first before I start to …

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