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Medical Gaslighting

Writer's picture: Emma HammackEmma Hammack

Perleen Deol 3/7/23


For years women’s mental and physical health has not been taken seriously.


Throughout the years women have noticed how they get treated differently when they go to the doctors. If they tell their doctor they've been experiencing moodiness the doctor will blame hormones. If they tell their doctors they've been experiencing weight gain they're doctor will say hormones.


Women's symptoms getting pushed aside isn't uncommon. In fact, it's so common that people have come up with a name for it: “medical gaslighting.” Signs of medical gaslighting include doctors rushing patient visits, not discussing medical symptoms, doctors letting biases affect your diagnoses, doctors telling you it's all in your head, and overall not sharing a mutual interest in your care.


Seventeen percent of women feel they have been medically gaslighted whereas only six percent of men feel this. Furthermore, Academic Emergency Medicine found that women who went to the ER with stomach pain waited 33% longer than the men with similar symptoms. It is clear that medical gaslighting happens to women more than men due to pre existing biases like premenopausal symptoms, birth control side effects, and menstrual cycles.


Our Take:

No woman should ever experience this emotional abuse due to bias. If you have experienced this you can try to go to a doctor that specializes in your area of need instead of your physician. Even more than that, you can speak out if you know something is wrong. You can always get a second opinion from another doctor. Most importantly raise your voice! Don't be afraid to speak out if you have experienced anything like this before in order to raise awareness.



Works Cited


Caplan, Ashley Laderer, Arthur. “7 Tell-Tale Red Flags of Medical Gaslighting and How It Can Lead to a Horrifying Misdiagnosis.” Insider, www.insider.com/guides/health/mental-health/medical-gaslighting.


“Gaslighting in Women’s Health: When Doctors Dismiss Symptoms | Northwell Health.” Www.northwell.edu, www.northwell.edu/katz-institute-for-womens-health/articles/gaslighting-in-womens-health.


Krištopaitytė, Eglė. “It’s Only in Her Head”: Gaslighting in Women’s Health. healthnews.com/news/its-only-in-her-head-gaslighting-women-at-doctors-office/#:~:text=When%20it%20comes%20to%20medicine,to%20only%206%25%20of%20men.


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