How To Recognize ‘Medical Gaslighting’

Reporting for TODAY, NBC’s Maria Shriver looks into a troubling trend of doctors misdiagnosing, dismissing and gaslighting female patients despite showing symptoms that could be from life-threatening illnesses.

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[MichelleLWhitney]

When you’re very ill, it is impossible to stand up for yourself. I’m tired of medical abuse.

[Sharon-swmr]

Please Maria Shriver do a report on how people with mental illnesses get mistreated, misdiagnosed, and gaslighted. Thank you for this report on women's health.

[iwantedapetpanda]

I'm a nurse. If you ask for a test and your doctor refuses, make it known that you want it IN WRITING in your file that you asked for the test and the doctor refused. Don't leave the room until it's been documented. I've seen doctors back down and order tests rather than to have a permanent record of disagreeing with a patient. We all need to trust our own instincts about our bodies and advocate for ourselves.

[St_r_i_v_e]

As someone who works in healthcare, this is true. Patients are sometimes judged on their health status or ethnicity and something needs to be done about it.

[smitha]

I went blind in my left eye in college. I went to a doctor who told me I strained my eyes by watching tv in the dark. Years passed and this time, my entire left side had gone numb along with double vision. Again, I was told I had a pinched nerve. This time I insisted on MRI scans. Guess what? I had lesions on my brain and spinal cord. I have MS which could have been treated 15 years sooner.

[hauntedbearchild]

Older people get ignored too. "Oh, it's just age catching with you." "You get these aches and pains when you get older." "It just happens when you are older."

[ag]

This is preventing many people from being granted disability benefits - or losing them during periodic reviews. Especially if someone is educated and well- spoken. Some doctors are so judgemental and out- of touch, that if you aren't a derelict or nearly dead, then you are just fine and exaggerating. This is a very real problem!

[jenniferm]

I have experienced medical gaslighting and I’m a tall, fairly thin white woman. I was told by a doctor once that I “need to stop trying to find something that MIGHT be wrong with me and try to focus on all the things that are right with my body” then he listed my height, health, age, etc. I was diagnosed by my rheumatologist two weeks later with Rheumatoid Arthritis, and months later with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. Most of my doctors have been supportive, but the condescending medical gaslighting from that one doctor has had more of an impact on my mental health than I would like to admit.

[kati-ana]

My mother always told us, "never tell your doctor about your troubles because they'll label you as depressed or hyper sensitive, then they'll blame all symptoms on your mental health." Be your own advocate and remember, doctors are not God like many think they are.

[svenlundergard]

I've learned to take a MALE friend, partner etc with you. Be sure he's well dressed and says very little if anything besides "Hello". It's only when I started doing this that my doctors started showing respect and listening to me. I was first diagnosed with MS and this was right after a severe flu. I basically have Post Viral Syndrome (like Long Covid) and that doctor was going to put me on MS drugs even before any of the necessary tests were done. I stood up and said, "I am requesting that you send me to a specialist before i leave this office. My MALE friend simply uncrossed his legs, leaned forward with clasped hands and stared at the doctor. I got a referral. Guess what? I don' have MS.

[lisasisneros]

What’s worse is if you try to be assertive in being your own advocate, some doctors will just drop you and refuse to treat you because they don’t want to spend the time it takes to make a diagnosis. At this point, I feel more doctors these days are just phoning it in, joining the profession for the clout and have little concern for patient care.

[victoriamooney]

My mom nearly died because her doctor thought she was a fat new mother. Took a chiropractor and threat of lawsuit to find out she had hypothyroidism and her thyroid was on the brink in total failure.

[astrastella]

It is even worse when a female doctor dismisses a female patient! My doctor from the university healthcare center told me to eat less, 🙄 turned out to be that I had an autoimmune disease.

[sunflower]

I’m no doctor, but empathy tells me to take every person seriously enough to run tests until the answer(s) are found.

[annai]

So, so true. When I was a child, a family friend was treated for "depression" for years, when in reality she had a brain tumor. My MOM finally figured it out, and called her doctor and told him what to diagnose her with. They got the CT scan, did surgery - but it was too late. Years later, my Mom went to Mayo clinic to try to get a diagnosis when her local docs kept saying she was "just depressed." Mayo Clinic sent her home with more anti-depressants. Just a few weeks later, she had to have an emergency quadruple bypass - Mayo clinic had missed her heart disease entirely and given her anti-depressants instead. She, too, later died because of misdiagnosis. No patient should be given anti-depressants for physical illness in place of a real diagnosis.

[denisemccarty]

I hope Maria contacted the doctor that kept dismissing her symptoms and let him have a piece of her mind as well as reported him to the medical

[steviecrow]

Saw a mom with Lupus battle this for decades. It’s heart breaking when a woman who’s seeking help gets shut down and dismissed.

[bambicrandi]

I have Fibromyalgia and it took 10 years to diagnose by visiting at least 10 different doctors. I was told I was too young to be in so much pain, and too tired. I was too overweight (although I didn’t start gaining pounds until after my symptoms), that I was just depressed. I broke down to a doctor and told her I wanted to take my own life because of how tired I was. She said I just needed to exercise. I lost a lot of faith in medical professionals.

[beautifulsoul]

This happened to me for 4 years until I couldn’t walk. In 2019 I got emergency surgery. Even then they tried to tell me it was mental and probably depression. Finally I couldn’t stand on my on and the ER did a MRI. That is where they find a mass on my spine!!! Them 4 years was torture

[mississa]

I was told I had “cellulitis” in my C-section wound. I was pain shamed and sent home despite serious symptoms. 35 hours later I went to a different ER by ambulance. That “Cellulitis” was actually necrotizing fasciitis, aka flesh eating bacteria, and I was septic. Still dealing with fallout almost 11 years later.