More than forty years after being bullied for being gay at high school, I can still remember the fear, shame and desperation it created. Growing up gay in 1983, as the AIDS crisis was emerging, intensified a belief that something was fundamentally wrong with me. This is not a story about blaming the people who bullied me. It is about what bullying can leave behind, how shame can become internalised, and how the need to prove our worth can shape a life long after the school corridors are gone.

When Healing Becomes Control

Why have psychiatry and psychology become symbols of healing for some—and instruments of control for others? From Nazi-era medical atrocities and Cold War fears of brainwashing to the CIA’s documented MKUltra experiments, the anti-psychiatry movement and Scientology, this article explores the disturbing history behind that distrust. It separates documented fact from legitimate criticism and conspiracy, asking a difficult question: what happens when our knowledge of the human mind is used not only to heal, but to influence and control?