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Our words and pictures explore the connections between science, medicine, life and art. Dive into one no matter where in the world you are.

1,127 results
  • Article

Crones

Menopause can be tough when nobody talks about it and all the stereotypes are negative, but it can also be transformative, marking the start of a new stage of life - cronehood.

Part of A Bloody History of Menopause
  • Article

Are you still nursing?

Julia Martins might get the side-eye for breastfeeding a three-year-old in the UK but, as she explains, examples from history, as well as the cultural norms of Brazil, where she grew up, are firmly on the side of extended nursing.

  • Comic

A shared experience

Having a simple conversation with another person brings such pleasure.

Part of Dissonance
  • Article

Witches

Many of the women persecuted as witches in the 16th-century “witch craze” were over 50 and exhibited signs of menopause. Helen Foster suggests that the stigma of the wicked witch still affects older women and how they deal with menopause.

Part of A Bloody History of Menopause
  • Book extract

Why the NHS is worth saving

In this extract from his latest book, ‘Free For All’, Dr Gavin Francis poses challenging questions to be addressed if a health service that’s free for all at the point of use is to remain possible.

Part of Inside Our Books
  • Comic

Reclaiming reality

While hospital routine and meds get to work on the psychosis, you can start to draw the threads of your life back together.

Part of Dissonance
  • Article

Invisibility

Why do menopausal women feel invisible? Because nobody talks about menopause or because society doesn't value older women?

Part of A Bloody History of Menopause
  • Article

Intertwined with air

Siwakorn Odochao details his people’s way of perceiving trees and humans as intimately connected, and draws on the air as the element that weaves between them. Through the co-dependency of humans and trees to prepare the air for each other, he elaborates on the relationship between air, health and environment.

  • Article

Heating up and drying out

Menopause doesn’t have to signify old age, but when your body feels like it’s letting you down, it’s hard not to believe that your useful life may be over.

Part of A Bloody History of Menopause
  • Comic

From psychotic to patient

And as the outside world seeps into your delusion, you experience a new reality and you gain a new identity.

Part of Dissonance
  • Comic

A glimpse of reality

As reality starts to break through your delusion you question everything you're hearing.

Part of Dissonance
  • Article

Hysteria

Mental health and emotional symptoms are common during menopause, but a long history of dismissing sufferers as 'hysterical women', at the mercy of their emotions has made it much harder to discuss these issues and to get support.

Part of A Bloody History of Menopause
  • Comic

I was hallucinating

That moment when you realise that no one else sees what you see is when the dissonance becomes unbearable.

Part of Dissonance
  • Article

Blood

Discover the history, mythology and taboos around blood and menopause, and hear from some contemporary voices about their experiences of periods and the onset of menopause.

Part of A Bloody History of Menopause
  • Book extract

Renaissance women and their killer cosmetics

In this extract from ‘How to be a Renaissance Woman’, Jill Burke delves into a complex world of beauty products, poison and patriarchy – and reveals the impossible contradictions of femininity faced by 16th-century women.

Part of Inside Our Books
  • Comic

Disembodied and alone

Psychosis cuts you off from yourself. You become separated from both your body and your identity.

Part of Dissonance
  • Article

Milk trails round Euston

Where cows once grazed near Wellcome Collection in London, baristas now froth their milk. Esther Leslie uncovers Euston’s dairy-based urban history.

  • In pictures

An appreciation of bees

Discover some un-bee-lievable stories about bees, their history and their uncertain future.

Part of Inside Our Collections
  • Comic

My delusion wasn’t shared

You can’t connect with people when you don’t share the same reality.

Part of Dissonance
  • Article

A wee spot of bother

Euphemisms can both appear to diminish experiences while at the same time making them easier to talk about. Carrie Hynds, who experienced the latter part of Northern Ireland’s “Troubles”, explores the relationship between language and trauma.