Tired and Angry

This zine deals with the experience of being dismissed and abandoned by the healthcare system.

content notes: chronic illness, medical gaslighting & discrimination, swearing

© VoidRise 2026






a zine cover with blue-grey background and the title 'Tired and angry' in black letters on white background. Under the title is a greyscale Medusa head wearing a pink sleeping mask.

pages 2 and 3 of the tired and angry zine. The background is light brown with chaotic black lines crisscrossing each other. Black typewriter text on white paper has been cut out and glued onto the page in pieces. The first page reads: 'I recently read - when women say - I'm so tired - what this actually often means is - I'm so angry!' The second page reads: 'I'm really fucking tired - so maybe that means - I'm really fucking angry, too'

pages 4 and 5 of the tired and angry zine. The background is light brown with black paint blotches. Black typewriter text on white paper has been cut out and glued onto the page in pieces. The first page reads: 'I've been chronically ill since I was 18 - that's half my life! Trying to access care has often been a war of attrition, and there are countless stories like mine. this shit is relentless and overwhelming' The second page reads: 'When you get sick, you deserve: - doctors who believe you and want to help - social and financial security - help navigating the healthcare & social system - being treated like a human. When you attend a doctor’s appointment, the reality often looks different:'

pages 6 and 7 of the tired and angry zine. The background is light brown. There's a 'Choose your strategy' diagram with meme pictures and images of smug-looking smiling male medical doctors. The doctors say: 'Have you tried yoga?' 'Why should I care about the ICD 11 lol' 'You're just depressed' 'Why would you want a diagnosis for that, you just need to meditate daily. On the top is the cartoonish image of a man sweating in distress because he has to make a difficult choice. A white fluffy figure is spreading their arms in exasperation on the left page. On the right there's a Barbie looking in horror and disgust at one of the doctors. A crying cat at the down-right bottom is giving the thumbs-up and says 'thanks, I'm cured'. The diagram has four starting options. The first is 'cry because medical trauma hits hard' and leads to 'get labeled hysteric'. The second is 'advocate for myself' and leads to 'get labeled difficult and noncompliant'. The third and fourth are 'say nothing to keep the peace' and 'shut down because medical trauma hits hard'. Both lead to 'doctors who have not received further training for 40 years'. The final outcome of the diagram is always 'no / wrong diagnosis and treatment'.

pages 8 and 9 of the tired and angry zine. The background is light brown. The left page has black paint blotches. It says: 'When you are chronically ill, you don’t only have to deal with the illness(es). You also have to fight against: - incompetent doctors - internalized ableism - inaccessible health care systems - bias, discrimination, all the ‘-ism’s and ‘-phobia’s like sexism, racism, Queerphobia, Fatphobia, ... - ableist societal structures - economic hardship and poverty - gender health gap - and more.' The right page says: 'Besides resentment, these experiences bring on a host of other feelings that are not often talked about: - The horror of being forced to helplessly watch your health decline while being dismissed again and again - Self blame. Telling yourself: “I didn’t use the right words, the right body language. If only I could get it right, if I could make them understand, then surely they’d help me” - The pain of repeatedly being told: YOU DO NOT MATTER'. The last sentence is capitalized and glued on top of a red stripe.

pages 10 and 11 of the tired and angry zine. The background is light brown. The left page shows a fire painted in acrylic paint. At the bottom, the text says 'You can not make someone develop empathy for you. Some people are set on misunderstanding you, and it is a waste of energy to plead with them to see you as human.' On the right, a capitalized vertical text reads 'some people just suck!'. The right page has black paint blotches. Its text says 'There is no easy solution. It’s not your fault that all this is so unreasonably hard. You are not lazy. The system is not broken, it is working as intended. Your anger is valid and you deserve better!'

The back cover of the 'tired and angry' zine has a blue-grey background. Black typewriting in the middle of the page says 'let's take a nap'. At the bottom, there's the link to my website: VoidRise.art





Here's the original text, if you want to translate the zine to your language.

Page 1: Tired and angry

Page 2: I recently read - when women say - I'm so tired - what this actually often means is - I'm so angry!

I'm really fucking tired - so maybe that means - I'm really fucking angry, too

Page 3: I've been chronically ill since I was 18 - that's half my life! Trying to access care has often been a war of attrition, and there are countless stories like mine. this shit is relentless and overwhelming

When you get sick, you deserve: - doctors who believe you and want to help - social and financial security - help navigating the healthcare & social system - being treated like a human. When you attend a doctor’s appointment, the reality often looks different:

Page 4: Choose your strategy - cry because medical trauma hits hard - advocate for myself - say nothing to keep the peace - shut down because medical trauma hits hard - get labeled hysteric - get labeled difficult and noncompliant - doctors who have not received further training for 40 years - Have you tried yoga? - Why should I care about the ICD 11 lol - You're just depressed - Why would you want a diagnosis for that, you just need to meditate daily - thanks, I'm cured - no / wrong diagnosis and treatment

Page 5: When you are chronically ill, you don’t only have to deal with the illness(es). You also have to fight against: - incompetent doctors - internalized ableism - inaccessible health care systems - bias, discrimination, all the ‘-ism’s and ‘-phobia’s like sexism, racism, Queerphobia, Fatphobia, ... - ableist societal structures - economic hardship and poverty - gender health gap - and more.

Besides resentment, these experiences bring on a host of other feelings that are not often talked about: - The horror of being forced to helplessly watch your health decline while being dismissed again and again - Self blame. Telling yourself: “I didn’t use the right words, the right body language. If only I could get it right, if I could make them understand, then surely they’d help me” - The pain of repeatedly being told: YOU DO NOT MATTER

Page 6: You can not make someone develop empathy for you. Some people are set on misunderstanding you, and it is a waste of energy to plead with them to see you as human. some people just suck! There is no easy solution. It’s not your fault that all this is so unreasonably hard. You are not lazy. The system is not broken, it is working as intended. Your anger is valid and you deserve better!

Page 7: let's take a nap