Published inGenius in a Bottle·PinnedMember-onlyWhen to Stop Using Distractions as a Coping Mechanism“The only thing to fear is fear itself” — Franklin D. Roosevelt — Distracting myself has been one of my best coping mechanisms when it comes to fighting an anxious thought or an upcoming anxiety attack. Watch Netflix, bake bread, go for a run. It cleared the way to deal with my issues one by one. To slowly work on the things that…Anxiety4 min readAnxiety4 min read
Sep 2, 2022Member-onlyYou’re Afraid to Get Hurt, Not Afraid to CommitWhy are we so bad at explaining how we feel? — We probably all know someone whose dating life is less stable than a game of Jenga. Did they also try to justify their singleness by saying they are afraid to ‘lose their freedom’? Maybe they won’t be using those exact words, but not being able to date someone for longer…Relationships5 min readRelationships5 min read
Jan 25, 2022Member-onlyNot Every Thought About Death Is a Suicidal ThoughtWhat are the consequences of using the term ‘suicidality’ in maintaining the taboo around thoughts of death? — Last year, the Dutch Trimbos Institute published a report on mental health among students: a quarter of all respondents had the occasional or more frequent wish ‘to be dead or ‘to go to sleep and never wake up’, four weeks prior to the survey. The results are said to be…Suicide9 min readSuicide9 min read
Aug 1, 2021Member-onlySSRIs & Oestrogen — Happiness Hormones for the MenstruatingIn a research article from 1961, 386 convicted women were interviewed and it was shown that 49% of them committed their crime during menstruation or in the days preceding it, whereas only 29% of all crimes would be expected to take place in this period. How reasonable is the presence…Menstruation6 min readMenstruation6 min read
Published inGenius in a Bottle·Jun 29, 2021Member-onlySpellboundProse poem — The buyers of the house removed the mustard yellow curtains and the carpet on the stairs. We were going to take those off someday. The previous owners could be reselling the house as if we had never lived there. We s̶a̶v̶e̶d̶ wasted effort. We replaced the upstairs doors with wooden…Poetry2 min readPoetry2 min read
Published inGenius in a Bottle·May 21, 2021Member-onlyI Am Disappointed in My Childhood — And That’s OKI am allowed to feel unhappy with the way things turned out — I am disappointed. And I am allowed to feel disappointed. I am allowed to feel unhappy with the way things turned out. I am allowed to wish it had gone another way. These are the thoughts that have been going through my mind for the past few days. Ever since…Disappointment5 min readDisappointment5 min read
Published inGenius in a Bottle·Apr 21, 2021Member-onlyFighting My Fear of FailureTo fail is to grow — A friend of mine once described her fear of failure as spot on. She would rarely go over her essay, paper, or any other assignment one last time so that she could blame a possible low grade on her lack of effort. I failed to recognize my own behavior at…Fear5 min readFear5 min read
Published inGenius in a Bottle·Jan 3, 2021Member-onlyThis Is Why I Love Listening to the RadioHumanity in its simplest shape — I love listening to the radio, probably because my mother used to do it a lot. It provides some sort of extra dimension to the living room. It is also a perfect pastime. Listening is one of the easiest things to do, as opposed to reading a book, for example…Radio3 min readRadio3 min read
