Happy Girl Winter: How to Overcome Seasonal Depressive Disorder
‘Madness’, Medical Misogyny and Misdiagnoses: The Woes of the Chronically Ill Woman
I would smile and nod along with whatever they said without ever asking questions. I didn’t understand what my mother had been trying to teach me. I let a lot of professionals tell me I was perfectly healthy even though I was struggling because I trusted them to know my body best. I got used to thinking, ‘that’s weird’, and going about my day in situations where most people would rush to a walk-in clinic…
Why Aren’t Menstrual Pain and Mental Health Seen as a Valid Reason to Miss Work?
We wouldn’t think twice about missing work and events in general when it comes to the flu or other physical discomfort, so why do we overextend ourselves when it comes to our periods? People who menstruate deserve and quite simply should take time off when they are on their periods as they are a normal and natural thing we cannot control. The shame around periods just pressures us into pushing through the day rather than resting…
Lost in Translation: How Language Around Women’s Pain Creates The Pain Gap
How can such different language be used to describe identical pain? As a scientist by training, I turned to recent research for answers. The critical problem appeared to be simple and, unfortunately, unsurprising. While kidney stones can affect everyone, ovarian cysts only affect people with wombs…
Growing Pains: My Experience of an Ovarian Cyst and Being Ignored by Doctors
The sharp stabbing feeling had been a bursting ovarian cyst. My body had been telling me that something was wrong. When the doctor told me why I had been in pain, I felt relief wash over me. Not at the diagnosis itself (that part was quite concerning), but at the fact that I had been right. My pain was real and had actually meant something…