The story of Kaspar Hauser is as strange as it is tragic. The odd-looking teenager appeared wandering the streets of Bavaria, Germany on May 26th 1826, with a note in his pocket. His boots were so old and worn you could see his feet sticking through them. He wore pantaloons,…
Some people experience a time in their lives when they feel utterly lost. Life has no meaning; they examine their very existence and purpose. They ask the question: “Why am I here?” Although this sounds very much like depression, it is more complicated than that. Imagine you are carrying on…
Anyone who has suffered from narcissistic abuse knows it takes a lot of time and healing to recover. But how do you heal your shattered confidence when your self-esteem is at rock bottom? Narcissists use a range of manipulative tactics to gaslight you into thinking you are worthless. These…
Deciphering dreams has always fascinated me. When we dream, our subconscious mind alerts us to a particular problem. Dreams use visual clues and hidden messages; a kind of code we have to analyse to understand the message. Dreams draw our attention to aspects of our life that need fixing. In…
Child prodigies like Brandenn Bremmer are rare. They are astoundingly gifted in certain areas, but because of this, they are taught with much older children. They can become isolated from their peers, have no friends their age, and be thrust into an adult world before they are mentally equipped. It’s…
No one purposefully enters into a narcissistic relationship. We like people that make us feel good about ourselves. We are drawn to those who are friendly, generous and gregarious. We are programmed by evolution to be attracted to people that share common interests. And it is exactly these qualities that…
What was your favourite fairy tale when you were a child? Perhaps it was Cinderella or Snow White? Mine was Bluebeard, a disturbing tale about a serial-killer king. This might explain my fascination with all things evil. But Bluebeard is just one of hundreds of dark fairy tales. Here are…
Do you remember as a child being told “Do as I say, not as I do?” Do you recall how it felt? I bet you were confused, or even angry at the time. With hindsight and experience, it is easy to see why adults say this to children. It might…
We all like to think that we are individuals, capable of free will and independent thought. However, the fact is humans inhabit groups, and there’s an evolutionary reason for this. Our early ancestors formed groups as a matter of survival. In modern society the groups we join or naturally inhabit…
Did you know that the long-term effects of being lied to can seriously damage our mental well-being? Whether you have been told your bum doesn’t look big in that outfit, or your partner has been unfaithful behind your back; we have all been lied to at some point in our…
