Ancient Egyptian painting of women dancing and playing instruments.

Perfume therapy

(Updated April 2023.) After reading Alyssa Harad’s Coming to My Senses, about her discovery of perfume, I was inspired to set forth my own approach toward arming oneself against the world with scent. I rank perfume up there with recorded music and books when it comes to tools for mental health.

What you might not know about liver damage

(Updated April 2024.) In 2014, out of frustration at the lack of progress about some stubborn health issues, I started revisiting previously abandoned theories about their causes, including liver damage. Usually I would abandon a theory due to insufficient information on the topic, insufficient confirmation because of lack of access to decent testing facilities, or ...

An annoyed woman under dark stormclouds.

Chronic illness and “nice” people

(Updated April 2024.) In 2013 I began thinking again about a phenomenon I first experienced at the nadir of my health woes in my early thirties, and several times since. I wondered briefly about it each time it happened, but was too beleaguered and distracted to dwell on it. On several occasions I developed noticeable, ...