The elevator comes to a halt between two floors. Within seconds, breathing quickens, the heart races at 150 beats per minute, and the metal walls seem to close in. For some, this might be a passing inconvenience. For others, it’s a nightmare. Claustrophobia, a specific phobia, transforms enclosed spaces into an unbearable threat. This condition,…
A word, an image, a glimpse of a familiar face in a crowd; sometimes, that’s all it takes for a memory to resurface. It emerges with the clarity and conviction of a moment truly lived. We remember it. We’re certain of it. Or so we believe. Because at times, the memory in question never happened…
Fear is a signal, a primordial alarm etched into the depths of our biological history. As old as humanity itself, it is our safeguard in the face of danger. When a threat arises, our body springs into action: hidden energy reserves are unleashed, ready to propel us forward. In a split second, fear sharpens our…
In the paradoxical landscape of human life, where the extraordinary brushes against the mundane, some of us become witnesses to accidents that do not kill, but instead imprison. Julie Bourges lay motionless, trapped in a body that refused to respond. Around her, doctors whispered, loved ones wept. Behind this mask of stillness, her mind remained…
In 1799, deep within a forest in southwestern France, villagers witnessed a scene reminiscent of a bygone era: a child, naked, filthy, his hair tangled, fled from human presence like a hunted animal. He had survived alone for years, immersed in the wilderness. This boy, later known as Victor of Aveyron, would captivate scientists, philosophers,…
Why is it that, despite being fully aware of what is right, we so often fall back into the same patterns? Every day, we resolve to change a habit or abandon another, only for our brain to quietly override our conscious decisions. Night after night, the same scenario plays out: our hand reaches for the…
Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) may not be as widely recognized as Freud or Jung, but he stands as a pivotal figure in the history of psychology. This German psychologist and philosopher, situated at the crossroads of a scientific revolution, is widely regarded as the founder of scientific psychology. At a time when the study of the…
“When I think of all the books I still have to read, I am certain of being happy again.”, Jules Renard There is something universal in this simple thought. Happiness suspended in unread pages, the promise that despite silence or absence, there is always a place to go without ever moving. In the face of…
In a New York neurology ward, patients suffering from global aphasia, a severe language disorder where both comprehension and verbal expression are profoundly impaired, are watching a televised presidential speech. Due to extensive damage in the left hemisphere of their brains, these patients cannot grasp the words or their sequence. The content of the speech…
Faraj Bayrakdar, a Syrian poet, endured fourteen years of torture in Aleppo’s prisons. In a lightless cell, he etched verses onto scraps of cigarette paper and pieces of cloth: “I write so the walls of my cell don’t become the limits of my universe.Each word is a nail hammered into the coffin of my torturers.”…