Hannah Shewan Stevens

England

Journalist and Editor at Freelance

Freelance NCTJ Journo/Editor/Sex Educator @CosmopolitanUK @Glamourmag @Refinery29UK @Dazed @iNews @Independent @EachOtherUK @Telegraph etc 🏳️‍🌈♿💜 she/her

Articles

I left the NHS to work in Dubai – my salary is more than £100k, there’s no way I’d return

1 week ago | msn.com | Hannah Shewan Stevens

Microsoft Cares About Your PrivacyMicrosoft and our third-party vendors use cookies to store and access information such as unique IDs to deliver, maintain and improve our services and ads. If you agree, MSN and Microsoft Bing will personalise the content and ads that you see. You can select ‘I Accept’ to consent to these uses or click on ‘Manage preferences’ to review your options and exercise your right to object to Legitimate Interest where used.
I left the NHS to work in Dubai - my salary is over £100k, there's no way I'd return

1 week ago | inews.co.uk | Hannah Shewan Stevens

When Natalie Oakes, 38, qualified as a nurse in 2007, she visualised a long career in the NHS. But after ten years working her way up from a staff nurse in NHS Lothian to a manager in infection control, a Facebook ad looking for Western-trained medical staff interested in working abroad changed everything. She took a nursing job at the Cleveland Clinic in Abu Dhabi before moving to Dubai a year later. Over the past 12 years, Natalie’s career has progressed rapidly.
I won't sleep with anyone else until I figure out my sexuality

2 weeks ago | metro.co.uk | Hannah Shewan Stevens

'Reading it made me realise that I'm a lesbian.' Those were the words that stopped me in my tracks in February. They were uttered during a video in which two women shared how they discovered an online document - titled 'Am I a lesbian?' and written by Tumblr user Angeli Luz in 2018 - which helped them unlock their sexual orientation. Being that I'd always felt confused over which label fit me best, the clip instantly made me feral with curiosity and I knew I had to read Luz's words immediately.
I've embraced free bleeding when I'm on my period

1 month ago | metro.co.uk | Hannah Shewan Stevens

Every month, a week before my period, cramps from my cervix flow into every bodily crevice. Alongside the pain, my mood drops with a crash. My periods are brutal because of endometriosis - a condition that causes body-wide pain due as endometrial tissue grows outside the womb. The pain is constant beyond bleeding days, and the actual menstruation? Savage. To prepare, I charge my TENS machine (a pain relief device) and electric hot water bottle, and stock up on painkillers.
Inaccessibility, inequality and poverty: What's really disabling the nation?

1 month ago | national.thelead.uk | Hannah Shewan Stevens

Rates of disability and chronic illness in the UK have increased steadily for years, inspiring successive governments to slash essential benefits from one of society’s most vulnerable groups. The numbers are likely to continue rising: a 2023 Health Foundation report projected a 37 per cent increase in people living with a ‘major illness’ by 2040; the majority will be over 70, with a 4 per cent rise predicted among the working age population.
Meet the female teachers terrified of their misogynistic students

1 month ago | glamourmagazine.co.uk | Hannah Shewan Stevens

“A male student outright refused to take my feedback on his work. He said, ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about, you’re just a woman,’” says Ellie Coverdale. “It was shocking; not just the words but how confidently he said them. When students disrespect you simply because you’re a woman, it makes classroom management harder, and it also affects how much you’re able to reach them.
How to Plan for Your Unique Needs

2 months ago | bezzymigraine.com | Hannah Shewan Stevens |Jerlyn Jones

Making meals while wrestling with a chronic illness can feel overwhelming, but optimizing your kitchen and finding the right tools can reunite you with the joy of cooking. Traditional kitchen setups, energy-intensive recipes, and the expectation of standing for long periods create barriers that many food blogs and cooking guides ignore.
Learning Acceptance and Forgiveness for My Chronic Pain

2 months ago | bezzycopd.com | Hannah Shewan Stevens

Our bodies don’t mean to, but they do hurt us, in cycles of chronic pain, discomfort, and frustration. Before we allow this to build into resentment, we must find some compassion and forgive our illnesses. When you live with chronic illness, grief, anger, and frustration can take their toll, especially when you live in the vice-like grip of chronic pain. At times, these waves of emotion build into resentment or a sense of betrayal directed at our body’s inability to get or stay well.
Disabled People Don't Exist to Inspire Others

2 months ago | bezzycopd.com | Hannah Shewan Stevens

We can all inspire others without being reduced to harmful stereotypes that ignore our daily challenges in a world that refuses to accommodate us. Outside supportive communities like Bezzy, stories about the disabled and chronically ill often fall into two extremes: triumph or tragedy. We become feel-good tokens or tear-inducing symbols in narratives crafted for “healthy” audiences.
No, Wes Streeting, my stress wasn’t an ‘overdiagnosis’ - if only it were that simple

Mar 17, 2025 | independent.co.uk | Hannah Shewan Stevens

commentI was signed off work twice with mental illness, writes Hannah Shewan Stevens – but is it any surprise people are struggling to cope when the UK is falling apart at the seams? Health secretary Wes Streeting has put his foot in his mouth again, this time, claiming there’s “definitely an overdiagnosis” of mental illness in the UK. Apparently, those of us struggling with poor mental health are a burden to the public’s finances because we need time off work to recover.