Ink, Skin, and Self: Hannah Williams on Psoriasis, Tattoos, and the Long Road to Loving What You See

Hannah Williams was twelve years old when what everyone assumed was dandruff turned out to be psoriasis — and by sixteen, it had covered nearly 95% of her body. For years, she wore long sleeves in summer and avoided mirrors. Then, slowly, in small steps, something shifted: a kids' camp in America, a cross-country trip, a decision to start an Instagram — and eventually, tattoos as acts of deliberate, joyful self-decoration on the skin she'd spent a decade trying to hide. In this episode, Hannah talks about what it actually takes to stop hiding, what it means to build community around visibility, and what she wants every newly diagnosed twelve-year-old to know. Plus, Holly traces the word "stigma" all the way back to its ancient Greek roots — where it literally meant a mark burned into skin — and follows the long, complicated history of how tattooing traveled from punishment, to shame, to one of the most powerful forms of self-reclamation we have. Including what happens when psoriasis decides to have its own opinion about the process.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.