Is Your Doctor Gaslighting You?

GASLIGHTING

From Your Medical Professionals

Hey Y'all, 

Let's jump right into Gaslighting. It's more than a classic film. Much more!

And we've all been there, right?  Gaslighting from a so-called friend, lover, coworker, or employer. Even seemingly loving parents, children, and our elected politicians... gaslight us. Got us side-eyeing ourselves, questioning our own sanity. 😅 

If you're on social media you've surely heard the horror stories of folks sharing their experiences. I could even share a handful of my own cringey ones, but I'll spare y'all. 

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Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation and emotional abuse, where the perp is sowing seeds of doubt in their victim. It causes confusion, self-doubt, and helplessness, which can lead to anxiety, depression and dependency on the gaslighter for validation and guidance.

Medical Gaslighting is the same type of emotional abuse, but when physicians or medical providers manipulate patients to doubt their own judgement, downplay or dismiss their concerns, victim-blame, and/or explain away their concerns with false diagnoses. Pretty crummy. 

Alyssa Burgart, physician, biochemist, and clinical director at Standford School of Medicine explains that "This can mean questions, tests, and diagnoses that fit a biased pattern, rather than addressing the patient's actual symptoms."

Patients therefor experience delays with their medical treatment, missed diagnoses, and overall worsened health outcomes. 

Examples of Medical Gaslighting:

"I had severe depression and asked my doctor at the time to fill out temporary disability forms. However, without talking with me, he put 'obesity' as my disability. I filed a grievance and switched doctors."—palmerd45

"I once had a doctor tell me she would only discuss one or two symptoms at a time with me. I had a list, and she didn't want to hear it. One time before that, I had told her about the pain I was in, and she referred me to a pain psychologist to which I told her, "I am already seeing a therapist, but thank you, anyway." She refused to hear me. I went to a new doctor who ran blood tests and turned out I had an autoimmune disease, a painful genetic disorder, and a circulation disorder. I did file a complaint with the previous doctor's superior." -Anonymous 

"My mom spent nine months trying to figure out why she had such a bad cough and rib pain. Every time she went to see her doctor, he passed it off as bronchitis, allergies, smoking (she didn't smoke), and even asked if my dad was beating her and causing the rib pain. At the time, her insurance wouldn't allow her to see a different doctor, but she finally went out of network to a doctor in a nearby larger city, and they almost immediately found she had STAGE 4 LUNG CANCER. She died three months later. That experience taught me that you need to always listen to your body, get second opinions, and advocate for yourself, because not all doctors have your best interest in mind." —blu3starkitty

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Cringe, right? 

And needless to say, this treatment disproportionately affects women ("female hysteria") the obese ("just lose weight"), those with language barriers, and people of color. 

It's insidious y'all, and can be so dang subtle that many don't notice when it happens.

Red Flags of Medical Gaslighting

Listen up if you suspect you've been a victim of it.

🚩1. Inability to Listen or Often Interrupts 

All care providers should be an engaged listener and validate your feelings.

🚩2. Disregard for Previous Diagnoses or Medical History 

Healthcare providers may ignore or disregard previous diagnoses, medical history, or treatments, dismissing their relevance to the current health concerns.

🚩3. Your Medical Concerns are Dismissed or Ignored

For instance, your provider may be questioning if you actually feel a certain way and downplaying any pain you may experience. resulting in you not receiving answers you wanted.

🚩4. You're Often Blamed for Your Symptoms. 

Sometimes, a provider may be passive aggressive, disrespectful or condescending and may gaslight you into thinking that your symptoms are your fault and the result of your own negligence or actions. 

🚩5. Minimization of Pain 

Pain is subjective, but medical gaslighting occurs when healthcare providers minimize a patient's pain or suggest that it's not as severe as the patient describes.

🚩6. You're Told You Worry Too Much or Have Anxiety About Your Symptoms 

Your provider may blame your symptoms on mental illness, but not refer you to a specialist or conduct a mental health screen.

“If you’re quickly diagnosed with anxiety, stress or another mental health condition, this may be gaslighting,” Burgart said. This can happen frequently, especially with women, even if your symptoms don’t align with the traditional issues associated with anxiety.

🚩7. You're Given Inconsistent Explanations

Patients may receive contradictory explanations for their symptoms or health conditions from different healthcare providers, leading to confusion and doubt.

🚩8. Your Provider Won't Provide a Referral or Order Lab Work for Diagnosis 

A provider who’s a generalist and doesn’t know much about your symptoms or condition should at least point you in the direction of a specialist who can provide you with specific care. Failure to do so y'all, or ordering labs for a diagnosis is probably gaslighting.

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If you feel like you’re experiencing medical gaslighting, take action immediately.

Receiving medical care should always be a taxing, stressful process. Now you can spot the signs of medical gaslighting and ask any questions you have. Maybe even take notes during your appointment and compare them to the notes that your provider took at the time of your visit.

In any case, try to advocate for yourself; it may result in you feeling more heard, seen and validated.

“If you suspect your concerns are being dismissed, ask your clinician to repeat back to you what they understand about your symptoms,” Burgart said. However, if you’re still not being taken seriously, it may be time to get a second opinion and switch your care.

So, there it is y'all, medical gaslighting. 

I've been seeing more articles about this issue and I wanted to bring attention to it. Back when it was happening to me, I didn't have an official term for it. I just knew I felt worse leaving the doctor's office. 

Don't be too shy to speak up for yourself! 

Your health and health outcomes could depend on it.

EM

REFERENCES:

31 Examples Of Medical Gaslighting And Doctors Dismissing Patients (buzzfeed.com)

Experts Are Sharing The Ways You Can Tell If Your Doctor Is Gaslighting You, And It's So Frustrating And So Helpful At The Same Time (yahoo.com)

'It’s All in Your Head': The Dangers of Medical Gaslighting | Psychology Today