The failings of the “world’s greatest democracy”

In 2020, America was set to see more than 3.2 million deaths. With an increase of at least 400,000 deaths when compared to 2019, 2020 is quickly becoming the deadliest year in US history.

And even though the number of deaths normally increase in most years, 2020’s increase amounts to a 15% rise, the largest single year percentage increase since 1918. Additionally, with the amount of Covid-19 related deaths rising continually, 2020's increase might be much more than 15% after accounting for the months at the end of the year.

What’s with the increase?

As expected, the amount of deaths due to the coronavirus played a large part in the increase. With over 330,000 deaths, Covid-19 has become the third leading cause of death (behind only heart disease and cancer). …

No but here’s how to work it into your strategy ethically

As a blogger (and web content writer), content generation is arguably the most important part of the process. Without interesting content, even the best writer would be unable to attract readers. Furthermore, with an unsustainable content generation strategy, one would find it difficult to retain readers.

And as I developed my own personal content creation recipe, I found myself wondering if content spinning was a legitimate content generation strategy that I could adopt.

After all, as a freelance writer, I was once hired to spin content as part of another blog’s content generation strategy. …

And what I learnt from my own challenge

As writers, all of us have our very own pet topics. Some of us spend most of our time writing about technology. Others might prefer to stick to writing advice for other writers. For me, I like to use my writing platform to share about the environmental issues and the possible solutions that we can adopt.

And sticking to a niche (or even a few here on Medium) is completely normal. In fact, many writers will claim that a niche is necessary for writing success.

However, I believe that a niche isn’t necessary here on Medium. Focusing too much on a particular topic limits your voice and forces you to look at issues from a singular perspective. …

5 natural remedies to overcome your sleepless nights

Defined as the “persistent difficulty with sleep initiation, duration, consolidation or quality”, insomnia causes an individual to be unable to get a full night’s sleep be it through difficulty in falling asleep or the inability to remain asleep.

With insomnia affecting between 10 to 20% of adults worldwide (and nearly 50% of the geriatric population), sleepless nights are something that many of us will struggle (or have been struggling) with. Furthermore, as sleep is closely related to our life expectancy, beating insomnia should be on the top of many of our to-do list

And because not many of us want to rely on medical means (like sleeping pills), here are some natural remedies that might help improve you overcome your sleepless…

How green spaces can improve our mental health

Our surrounding environment plays a massive role in our mental health. For example, clutter negatively affects our mental state. Being exposed to sunlight helps our body release serotonin, allowing us to feel happier.

And as our cities become more advanced, there have been alarming concerns that our new environments might affect us detrimentally. Apart from factors such as smaller living spaces and cookie-cutter cubicle workspaces, many have begun to worry that the loss of green spaces might be affecting our mental state detrimentally.

As a result, the availability of green spaces is becoming a huge consideration as communities attempt to boost urban dwellers’ mental health. …

What I learnt by dealing with the pain and tiredness that came from nowhere

Feeling fatigued is an extremely normal thing.

No one lives their entire lives without feeling tired even once (however, if you do know someone who never feels tired, please let me know. I want to learn his/her secret). And while fatigue normally comes after a stressful period or after working hard on something, this isn’t always the case.

I call that special case the “mysterious fatigue”.

My Recent Experience With Mysterious Fatigue

As a university student, the end of the exams signaled the beginning of my break (/cues celebration). And of course, after spending long hours studying and struggling with work, fatigue is normal. …

The subtle signs your body gives you

It is estimated that more than 260 million individuals suffer from depression across the globe. Additionally, more than 30% of adults in the US are estimated to experience at least an anxiety disorder once in their lives.

While many physical illnesses are easy to spot (with physical pain and other physical symptoms), mental illnesses are far harder to detect. In fact, some individuals who struggle with illnesses like depression can appear completely normal (while not completely understanding the severity of their own situation themselves either).

And even though many of us already know that mental health days are great for our productivity, most of us don’t know when we should be taking one. …

3 tips to help you remain hopeful even after an especially tough year

2020 is an extremely hard year to sum up.

From the Australian wildfires to the death of numerous icons, it seemed that 2020 always had something worse up its sleeve. The pandemic led to more than a million unnecessary deaths, plunging entire medical systems into an overloaded state despite the best efforts of all the healthcare workers. Relations between nations continued to worsen amidst an increasingly divided world. And systematic racism in the American police system forced the whole world to stand up and call for change.

And like many others, I found 2020 to be an extremely testing year. 2020 was the year where I expected a peaceful (and simple) transition from military service back into normal civilian life before beginning college at the end of the year. …