Did I Study Psychology to Try and Cure Myself?

I was never a textbook example

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

While I’m now recognised for my witty articles about Taylor Swift or rambling essays where I needlessly overshare, I wasn’t always a journalist, or even on the track to becoming one. And yes, I’m aware that no one’s ‘recognising’ me in the slightest, but a girl can dream.

Back in the day, I was firmly committed to studying psychology. I discovered it in high school, as I was lucky enough to attend a school where it was offered as a subject. I fell in love with psychology: the studies, the findings, the way of looking at the world. I loved how self-aware it was, how often we’d have to dismantle findings and poke holes in them, and the focus on how an answer is never certain. Psychopaths, optical illusions, brain mapping, we did it all. I studied psychology for four years in high school and then I left to study it at university. I dived into new areas of psychology, like adolescent development and health psychology, but my heart lay in clinical psychology.

Psychopathology, the study of mental illness

I love psychopathology, the study of mental illnesses. It covers all aspects, including abnormal cognition, maladaptive behavior, and experiences that differ according to social norms. Why do some people struggle…