Why the HBO live-action rendition of the acclaimed video game makes more missteps than a blind clicker. — **SPOILER ALERT** The Last of Us TV series is finally out. Based on the acclaimed video game of the same name, critics are calling it ‘spectacular’ and ‘one of the finest TV shows you will see this year’. …

A key skill that can help you recover from Borderline Personality Disorder and Complex-PTSD. — In 1986, Dr Marsha Linehan, the acclaimed psychologist and creator of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) was burnout. Struggling with academia, she took an impromptu sabbatical from Washington University, which led to a two-month retreat at Californian Buddhist Monastery Shasta Abbey. Over three decades later, she remarked, ‘as soon as I…

Mapping the trauma landscape, from the world of books and stories — Shell shock, battle fatigue, neurasthenia, survivor syndrome, hysteria, railway spine, and war neurosis: Just some of the names used throughout history for what we now call Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). And yet, trauma has been with us since the dawn of antiquity. It was mapped out long ago, not by the psychiatrists, but artists; who through the power of words and storytelling, brought the horror of unspeakable events from darkness into the cold light of truth.

75% of individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder cut themselves, but there is a way to stop. — Warning: Content includes explicit descriptions of self-harm. I have exactly 36 self-harm scars crisscrossing my body: That’s more than the number of years I’ve been alive. …

It may take time, but remission and recovery from Borderline Personality Disorder are not only possible, they’re likely. — I’d ask it a thousand times over: “How much more must I endure?” From adolescence when I first began experiencing symptoms, to early-adulthood when I was given the diagnosis. Once you slip into the vortex of Borderline Personality Disorder it seems like you’ll never get out. Can you anchor a…

How we blend and camouflage into different environments and why it’s ultimately unsuccessful. — Are you a chameleon? If you have Borderline Personality Disorder chances are you might be. At the very least, this spirit animal has given you the superpower of blending-in. Individuals with BPD have no inherent sense of self: Washed away somewhere in childhood, peek inside the heart of a person…

Why seclusion right now might be the very best thing for you. — Let me start with a confession: I enjoy being a recluse. It’s probably because for most of my life, every experience I’ve ever had, has evoked a feeling of utter dread. It’s not just social situations — in fact like a chameleon I can blend quite easily, but not enjoy…

How the world’s worst mental health label came into existence and why it matters. — Depression was studied in 1621, OCD in the 1830s, Schizophrenia in the late 19th century, and trauma after the First World War. And yet the infamous Personality Disorder is a mere infant in terms of diagnosis. This is especially true of the ‘Borderline’ type. …

What the legendary Soviet writer Vassily Grossman had to say about surviving history’s darkest hours. — I read Life and Fate, Vassily Grossman’s epic novel in 2010 with tears in my eyes: I was twenty-fives year old, fresh out of university, and buzzing with ideas. I had wanted to change the world, but found the world would not bend to my will —I suddenly found myself…