How to Recognize Medical Gaslighting
We’ve all been there: you finally make it to the doctor's office with a list of symptoms, only to leave feeling like you’re "making it up" or "just stressed." If you’ve walked out of an appointment feeling more confused than when you walked in, you might have experienced medical gaslighting.
Medical gaslighting occurs when healthcare professionals downplay or dismiss a patient's physical symptoms, often attributing them to psychological causes or lifestyle factors without proper investigation.
The Red Flags: How to Spot It
Recognizing the signs is the first step toward reclaiming your health journey. Keep an eye out for these common behaviors:
- The "It’s Just Stress" Trap: Your doctor attributes chronic pain, fatigue, or neurological symptoms to anxiety or depression without running diagnostic tests.
- The "Weight" Wall: Every concern, from a sore throat to a knee injury, is blamed on your weight, preventing the doctor from looking at the actual issue.
- Interruption and Dismissal: You are frequently cut off while explaining your symptoms, or your self-reported pain levels are treated as exaggerations.
- Refusal to Test: The provider refuses to order standard labs or imaging, even when your symptoms persist or worsen.
- Feeling "Crazy": You leave the office questioning your own memory or the reality of your physical pain.
Understanding what medical gaslighting looks like can help you better navigate and combat it moving forward. For actionable steps you can take if you feel you are being medically gaslit read our other recent blog “5 Way To Combat Internalized Medical Gaslighting.”
XOXO
Katherine Rose
