Tag: Mind

  • Fatigue: the problem most people don’t understand

    If you’ve never experienced extreme fatigue, then it’s difficult to appreciate. It’s all too easy to say that someone is “lazy” if they complain of no energy or go for a lie down at two in the afternoon. For a long time, many doctors haven’t understood it. For people who are constantly exhausted, us doctors…

  • What’s going on in the mind of a spree killer?

    A couple of weekends ago, I was invited onto BBC Breakfast News to review the Sunday papers. Arriving at the studio in Salford, Manchester, at 6am, the producer presented me with a foot-high pile of the day’s newspapers and instructed me to pick five stories to talk about on air. All should be from different…

  • Spelling out the truth about dyslexia

    We’ve all done it: mixed up our numbers and telephoned the wrong person. It’s an easy mistake that’s easy to forgive, but for one Starbucks employee, Meseret Kumulchew, getting her numbers in a jumble landed her in very hot water. While logging the temperature of fridges and water onto the duty roster, coffee shop worker…

  • Mario turns 30! How playing video games can be good for us (sometimes)

    Happy Birthday Mario! The large-nosed plumber, famous as Nintendo video game character who jumps down pipes and collects mushrooms, has just turned just turned thirty*. And he now the iconic video game star has a real reason to jump for joy. Research is increasingly showing us that video games could be good for us, which…

  • Is owning a dog is good for you? Separating howling myths from tail-wagging truths

    There are some things in life no one ever teaches you. Like the etiquette of dog walking. As a reluctant dog owner of two years, the strange world of dog walkers still mystifies me. Should I let my dog sniff another dog’s crotch? Should I apologise when my dog barks at a stranger? Will the…

  • The curious case of the phantom vibrating phone

    I’ve only been back in the UK a matter of hours and it’s already started. After a few days abroad, I am taking a stroll through the beauty of Wiltshire’s county town to remind myself how good it is to be back in good ol’ Blighty. And then suddenly – and without warning – my reverie…

  • Meet ALS sufferer Jason Becker: more inspiring than a bucket of icy water

    You probably haven’t heard of Jason Becker. In the late 1980s he was God’s gift to rock fans. With frizzy black hair and a shiny leather jacket, he was a virtuoso performer whose guitar solos silenced head-bangers in awe. Today he is still considered to be one of the world’s most gifted guitarists – even…

  • Take the smartphone addiction test! Are you hooked to your iPhone?

    It’s dinner time and the log fire is burning. My wife and I sitting in a pub on a rainy day and we are eyeing the menus – the seafood looks nice. Yes, this is the stuff of an English holiday by the sea: sitting on wooden chairs near an open fire with harassed-looking bar…

  • Online reviews and movie critics are fantastic – so why do we ignore them?

    The carpet is sticky and the smell of hotdogs mingles with sweet popcorn. The trailers are rolling. Even though person’s knee from the seat behind jabs into my back, I don’t care. The summer blockbuster is about to start and I’ve heard great things about it… But two hours, a bursting bladder and numb bottom…