Polly Atkin talks to Bethany Handley

After years of unexplained health problems, writer Polly Atkin was finally diagnosed with two chronic conditions in her thirties. She began to piece together what had been happening to her – all the misdiagnoses, the fractures, the dislocations, the bone-crushing exhaustion, the not being believed. She traces a fascinating journey, delving into the history of her two genetic conditions, uncovering how these illnesses were managed (or not) in times gone by and exploring how best to plan for her own future. From medical misogyny and gaslighting to the illusion of ‘the nature cure’, she examines how we deal with bodies that diverge from the norm, and why this urgently needs to change. Atkins talks about her book Some of Us Just Fall with Bethany Handley, an award-winning writer and disability activist from South Wales.