Understanding yourself
Every study, A to Z.
Studies of the sentences people offer long before they can name what is happening. Starting points for reading, never a diagnosis.
127 studies, by name · Browse by topic
A
- Acute stress reaction “Since that night, I can’t seem to land.”
- ADHD “I’ve got forty tabs open. In my head too.”
- Adjustment disorder “Everyone says I should be used to it by now.”
- Adolescent mental health “They barely talk to us any more.”
- After an affair “I read the messages at two in the morning.”
- Agoraphobia “I haven’t been to New Market since the crowd.”
- Alcohol use disorder “Just two pegs at the club. Then four.”
- Always on: work messages after hours “My boss’s WhatsApps come at midnight.”
- Anger “I’m not an angry person. Usually.”
- Autism diagnosed in adulthood “I always felt there was a rule everyone else knew.”
B
- Binge eating disorder “I eat standing at the fridge after everyone’s asleep.”
- Bipolar disorder “Last month I couldn’t stop. Now I can’t start.”
- Bipolar II disorder and hypomania “I’m not ill. I’m finally getting things done.”
- Body dysmorphic disorder “The new kameez looked perfect. I looked wrong in it.”
- Breakups and heartbreak “We used to share fuchka at the lake every Friday.”
- Bullying and cyberbullying “They made a group chat about me. Everyone’s in it.”
- Burnout “It’s a busy season at work.”
- Burnout in doctors “I tell my patients to rest. I haven’t in a year.”
C
- Cannabis and drug-induced psychosis “It was just ganja, every evening. Then the voices started.”
- Caregiver stress “I’m fine. Abba needs me more.”
- Caring for a parent with dementia “Ammu doesn’t know me some days. I still have to be there.”
- Childhood trauma “My childhood was normal. Mostly.”
- Children and divorce “Weekdays at Ammu’s, Fridays at Abbu’s.”
- Chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) “I sleep ten hours and wake up exhausted.”
- Climate anxiety and floods “Every monsoon, the water comes closer to Nanu’s house.”
- Coming home: reverse culture shock “I came home from London. Now I belong nowhere.”
- Compulsive buying “The parcels come while everyone’s at work.”
- Compulsive sexual behaviour “Every night I promise it’s the last time.”
- Confidentiality and privacy “What if someone sees me at the clinic?”
- Couples and marriage “We used to talk for hours.”
- Creative block “Six weeks to the Boi Mela. The page is still blank.”
- Cyclothymia “My moods change faster than the Dhaka sky.”
D
- Delirium “Abba didn’t know us in the hospital.”
- Delusional disorder “She is seeing someone. I know it. I have proof.”
- Dementia “Ammu asks the same question every hour.”
- Dependence on sleeping pills “I can’t sleep a single night without my tablet.”
- Depersonalisation and derealisation “It’s like watching my life through glass.”
- Depression “I’m just tired.”
- Depression in creative people “I haven’t painted since the exhibition.”
- Depression in later life “At my age, what is there to be happy about?”
- Depression in men “I’m not sad. I’m just angry all the time.”
- Depression in new fathers “Everyone asks about the baby. No one asks me.”
- Depression in pregnancy “I’m seven months pregnant and I feel nothing.”
- Depression with physical illness “The surgery went well. I didn’t.”
- Divorce and separation “Talak is one word. The family has a thousand more.”
- Drug and alcohol addiction “I can stop whenever I want.”
E
F
- Family and parenting “We’ve tried everything with him.”
- Family conflict after a parent's death “Abba’s flat. Four siblings. Nobody speaks now.”
- Family pressure to marry “Every dawat, the same question about my biye.”
- Fear of missing out (FOMO) “Everyone’s in Sajek this weekend. Except me.”
- Functional neurological disorder “The tests are normal, but my legs won’t hold me.”
G
- Gaming and phone overuse “I’ll stop after this match. It’s 4am.”
- Gender identity “I’ve felt this way since I was small.”
- Generalised anxiety “I’ve always been a worrier.”
- Generalised anxiety: worry about family “If she’s ten minutes late, I’ve already imagined the worst.”
- Grief after miscarriage “We hadn’t even told Ammu yet.”
- Grief and prolonged grief “I still set out his cup.”
H
- Hair pulling and skin picking “I pull my hair when I study. Now there’s a patch.”
- Headache and migraine “It’s just a headache. Most days.”
- Health anxiety “This headache must be a tumour. I’m sure of it.”
- Helping someone who won’t seek help “I can see he’s struggling. He refuses to see anyone.”
- High-functioning depression “Everyone thinks I’m doing brilliantly.”
- Hoarding disorder “Abba has kept every newspaper since 1998.”
I
J
L
M
N
O
- Obsessive compulsive disorder “I know it is locked. I check it anyway.”
- OCD: intrusive thoughts “What if I hurt someone? I would never. So why do I think it?”
- OCD: washing and contamination “I wash until my hands bleed, and they still feel dirty.”
- Online betting and gambling “One more match and I’ll win it all back.”
- Online harassment of journalists “Every time I publish, my inbox fills with threats.”
P
- Panic attacks “I thought I was having a heart attack.”
- Paranoid personality disorder “Everyone wants something from me. I trust no one.”
- Perfectionism “Ninety-eight isn’t a hundred.”
- Performance anxiety “Lights, camera, action, and my mind goes blank.”
- Performance anxiety in sport “In the nets I hit everything. In a match, I freeze.”
- Persistent depressive disorder “I’ve never been a happy person.”
- Personality disorder “People always leave me in the end.”
- Post-traumatic stress disorder “I’m fine. I just don’t go that way any more.”
- Postpartum depression “Everyone says I should be happy.”
- Postpartum psychosis “Ten days after the birth, she wasn’t making sense.”
- Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) “One week a month, I become someone else.”
- Pressure after success “The first song went viral. Everyone’s waiting for the second.”
- Psychiatric medicines: myths and facts “Will I get addicted? Will it change who I am?”
- Psychiatrist or psychologist? “Do I need a psychiatrist, or just someone to talk to?”
- Psychotherapy “I don’t know what’s wrong, exactly.”
R
S
- Schizophrenia and psychosis “He says the neighbours are listening.”
- School refusal “Every school morning, a stomach ache. Fridays, she’s fine.”
- Screens and young children “He won’t eat a bite without cartoons.”
- Secondary trauma in journalists “I look at the photos so the readers don’t have to.”
- Self-harm “It’s the only thing that makes the noise stop.”
- Sexual dysfunction “We don’t talk about that part.”
- Smartphone overuse in adults “I pick up my phone to check the time and lose an hour.”
- Smoking and nicotine “I’ll quit after Eid. I said that last Eid too.”
- Social anxiety “I’m not much of a people person.”
- Social media and mental health “I’m on my phone till 3am. It’s giving burnout.”
- Somatic symptoms “I’ve seen six doctors this year.”
- Specific phobia “I’ll drive to Chattogram. I always do.”
- Stress “I’ll relax once this is over.”
- Suicidal thoughts “Everyone would be better off without me.”
- Supporting a relative with psychosis “My brother is ill, and nobody tells us what to do.”