Katharine Cheston discusses the isolation, disbelief and stigma experienced by people with poorly understood medical conditions Autobiographical accounts of illness tend to follow a similar script. Typically, they open with an interruption: new symptoms
David Ellis reflects on ADHD and the language – and judgements – around it. ‘But you said for me to write a couple of lines’, I protest as the teacher ushers me out of
Laura Donald reflects on invisible health conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. I live in a Glasgow tenement building whose inhabitants pride themselves on their neighbourliness. Often I mute the residents’ WhatsApp group, sometimes for
As part of her ongoing research, Dr Sara Louise Wheeler places Frozen’s protagonist Elsa in context of historical and contemporary depictions of those living with genetic conditions which cause depigmentation and deafness. Historically, hegemonic
Lijiaozi Cheng discusses the concept of sub-optimal health and the Chinese government’s colour-based “health code” for containing COVID-19 A label for me A few years ago, I was doing my masters in Edinburgh and
Lucy Weir explores the gendered nature of critical responses to on-stage violence I am an art historian by training, though my expertise lies in performance, from dance and theatre to live art. Throughout my
Vesna Curlic explores the debates around patient liberty and restraint in asylum spaces In 1890, an anonymous patient at Crichton Royal Hospital in Dumfries, Scotland wrote a piece for the institutional magazine, The New
Amy Ryder discusses the lack of age-appropriate books and spaces for ill teens, and the flourishing of adolescent-authored illness narratives online During my time working for Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Appeal, the Bristol Children’s
Gillian Shirreffs uses poetry, prose and white space to explore lived experience of a chronic neurological illness. This is part four of an essay published in four parts this week. Click here for part
Gillian Shirreffs uses poetry, prose and white space to explore lived experience of a chronic neurological illness. This is part three of an essay published in four parts this week. Click here for part
