Hearing & Health Guides
Plain-language, clinician-reviewed articles on hearing, vision, sleep, and mental wellbeing — written to help you understand your health and make sense of your test results.
Social Anxiety vs. Shyness: Signs, Test & Help
How to tell ordinary shyness from social anxiety disorder — the key signs, a 3-question validated screen (Mini-SPIN), and what actually helps.
Insomnia vs. Sleep Apnea: Which Problem Do You Have?
Insomnia and sleep apnoea both wreck your sleep but in opposite ways. Learn the tell-tale signs of each, the validated tests for both, and how to tell them apart.
GAD-7 Anxiety Test: Scoring & What Your Score Means
A clear guide to GAD-7 scoring: how the 7 questions are scored 0–21, what each severity band (minimal, mild, moderate, severe) means, and the 10-point cut-off for likely anxiety.
Epworth Sleepiness Scale: Score Yourself & What It Means
How the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) works: rate 8 everyday situations, score 0–24, and find out whether your daytime sleepiness is normal, mild, moderate, or severe.
The Enneagram: All 9 Types Explained (+ Wings)
A clear, no-jargon guide to the 9 Enneagram types — their core motivations, fears, strengths, and wings — plus how to find your type and what the evidence really says.
Do I Have Anxiety? Types, Tests & When to Get Help
A plain-English guide to anxiety: the main types, the validated tests that screen for each (GAD-7, Mini-SPIN, PDSS, SHAI), and how to know when to seek help.
Working Memory Test: How Many Digits Can You Hold?
Most healthy adults hold 6–7 digits forward in their working memory. Learn what the digit span test measures, what Miller's 'magical number seven' actually means today, and what your result tells you.
Which Eye Is Dominant? Find Your Sighting Eye in Two Minutes
Around 65–72% of people are right-eye dominant. Find out what ocular dominance means, how to test it with the hole-in-card method, and why it matters for sport, photography, and monovision lenses.
What's a Good Reaction Time? Average Speeds and How You Compare
Most people react to a visual cue in about a quarter of a second. Here's what counts as fast, what slows you down, and how to measure your own reaction time in two minutes.
What Does 20/20 Vision Actually Mean?
20/20 vision means normal sharpness at 20 feet — not perfect sight. Learn what the Snellen fraction tells you, what 20/40 and 20/200 mean in real life, and what acuity misses entirely.
Understanding Processing Speed: How Fast Is Your Brain?
Processing speed is how quickly your brain takes in information and responds to it. It peaks in your mid-20s and gradually declines — but sleep, mood, and lifestyle shape it far more than age alone.
The Stroop Effect: Why Your Brain Trips on Coloured Words
The Stroop effect is the slowdown you get naming the ink colour of a colour word when the two conflict — e.g. the word RED printed in blue. Here's what it reveals about attention and cognitive control.
How Loud Is Too Loud? Safe Headphone Volume Explained
The WHO says sound is safe up to about 80 dB for 40 hours a week — but most headphones can hit 100 dB or more. Learn the 60/60 rule, the warning signs, and how to protect your hearing for life.
Resting Heart Rate by Age: What's Normal?
A normal resting heart rate for adults is 60–100 bpm. Here's what that range really means, how to measure your pulse correctly, what moves the number, and when to see a doctor.
Trouble Driving at Night? Contrast Sensitivity Explained
You can have perfect 20/20 acuity and still struggle with night driving. Here's why contrast sensitivity is the vision measure that actually predicts how well you see in the dark — and what to do about it.
Morning Lark or Night Owl? Understanding Your Chronotype
Your chronotype is your body's built-in timing preference — set by genetics and your circadian clock. Learn the science of larks vs owls, social jetlag, and how to work with your natural rhythm.
Mental Rotation: The Spatial Reasoning Skill You Use Every Day
Mental rotation is the brain's ability to spin objects in your mind's eye. Learn what Shepard & Metzler discovered, why the skill matters for STEM careers, and how trainable it really is.
Blood Pressure Numbers Explained: What 120/80 Really Means
120/80 is the familiar benchmark, but what do those two numbers actually measure? Learn the 2017 ACC/AHA categories, how to read your own result, and when to act.
What's the Average Typing Speed? Good WPM by the Numbers
The average adult types around 40 WPM. Good is 60+, fast is 75+, and professional is 90+. Here's what the numbers mean, how net WPM is calculated, and how you compare.
Can You Picture an Apple? Aphantasia and the Mind's Eye
Close your eyes and picture an apple. Can you see it? About 1 in 100 people genuinely cannot — a trait called aphantasia. Here's what the research says and how to check your own imagery vividness.
The Amsler Grid: A 30-Second Macular Self-Check
The Amsler grid is a simple checkerboard test that can reveal early warning signs of macular degeneration. Learn how to use it correctly, what to look for, and when to call your eye doctor.
Am I Colourblind? Types, Causes and How to Check
About 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women have colour vision deficiency. Learn the types, why it runs in families, how to do a quick online check, and when to see an eye doctor.
Am I Burned Out? The Signs of Burnout and What to Do
Burnout is a real, WHO-recognised syndrome with three clear dimensions. Learn the signs, how it differs from depression, and what actually helps you recover.
Do I Have Dyslexia? Signs of Dyslexia in Adults
Dyslexia affects around 1 in 10 adults — many undiagnosed. Learn the real signs: slow reading, spelling struggles, word-finding gaps, and mental fatigue. Plus how to screen yourself and get a formal assessment.
Adult ADHD: Signs, Symptoms & What Your ASRS Score Means
Learn what adult ADHD really looks like, how the WHO ASRS v1.1 screener works, and what a positive score (4+ shaded responses) means for your next step.
The 20-20-20 Rule: Beating Digital Eye Strain
Tired, burning eyes after screen time? The 20-20-20 rule—every 20 minutes, look 20 feet away for 20 seconds—is the most evidence-backed fix. Here's why it works and what else actually helps.
Sleep Hygiene That Actually Works
Most sleep advice is either obvious or wrong. Here's the evidence-based core of sleep hygiene — light, caffeine, and a consistent schedule — plus the signs that point to a sleep disorder rather than a bad habit.
How to Read Your Audiogram
Those lines, numbers and little O's and X's look clinical and intimidating. They're not. Here's everything on the chart, in plain English — in about five minutes.
What Your Tinnitus Pitch Means
That ringing, hissing or whistling in your ears has a pitch — and matching it can tell you something useful. Here's what pitch matching reveals, how sound therapy helps, and when tinnitus needs a doctor.
How to Protect Your Hearing
Most hearing loss from noise is completely preventable. Here's how loud is too loud, the simple 60/60 rule, which ear protection actually works, and the warning signs you shouldn't ignore.
Understanding the PHQ-9 Depression Screening
The PHQ-9 is a short, widely used questionnaire that gauges depression symptoms. Here's what each score band means, why it's a screen and not a diagnosis, and how to know when to reach out for help.