When trying to stave off depression, it’s important to experiment with different possible methods of amelioration. There is no single panacea for poor mental health. One solution may work for one individual but not for another. Some people also require a specific combinatory approach that works best for them. In managing my own depressive episodes…
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Author and mountaineer Jon Krakauer (who also wrote Into the Wild) recounts with disturbing clarity the 1996 Everest disaster, in his best-selling book, Into Thin Air (which was adapted into the Everest film – apparently deviating a lot from the book). Krakauer is an expert storyteller who transmits the intense feelings of stress, panic, and vigilance that the climbers…
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Mount Rinjani is the second highest volcano in Indonesia, standing at 3,726m, surpassed only by Mount Kerinci (3,805m) on the island of Sumatra. Situated on the island of Lombok, Mount Rinjani is a popular hiking spot for many tourists, as the island is easily reachable from Bali. Mount Rinjani is quite unique as a volcano,…
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Star Maker (1937) is a sci-fi novel written by British writer Olaf Stapledon. It describes the rich tapestry of cosmic evolution, surpassing in scale his previous novel First and Last Men (1930), which details the history of humanity from the present day back to two million years ago. Star Maker tells the story of a…
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Asylum designs in the 19th century were believed by medical practitioners, psychiatrists, and asylum architects to ameliorate, if not cure, madness. (In this essay, I will use the term ‘madness’ instead of mental illness because as sociologist Andrew Scull highlights, “for much of history, “mad” or some cognate of it really was the word that…
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