If you suffer from a chronic illness or long-term condition, especially one that is difficult to diagnose or shares symptoms with other conditions, then it is likely that you have suffered from medical gaslighting. Not only can medical gaslighting lead to delayed, missed or the wrong diagnosis, it can also have a severe impact on your mental health.
What is medical gaslighting?
Before looking at gaslighting in a medical setting, it’s worth looking at where the term gaslighting itself comes from. It was coined to describe the behaviour of one of the lead characters, Jack, in Patrick Hamilton’s 1938 play Gas Light. Jack’s wife Bella complains that while Jack is out, she can hear someone in their attic and that the gas lamps are going dim. Jack denies this is happening. In fact, Bella is correct, and it’s a ploy by Jack to have her deemed insane so he can steal her jewellery.
In layman’s terms, gaslighting makes you question your perception of reality. It takes place when someone tells you that something you know to be true didn’t take place or if it did, it isn’t a big deal.
In a medical context, it often means that your symptoms are dismissed or minimised by a medical professional. You may be told that your symptoms are normal or have them contributed to another unrelated condition. Or you may be told that your condition is stable based on test results or scans, when you know that the symptoms you are experiencing are getting worse.
Overwhelmingly, research has shown that women are more likely to experience medical gaslighting than men, and women from minority ethnic groups are more likely to experience it than white women.
As an example, many common symptoms of conditions affecting women or people assigned female at birth, such as endometriosis, ADHD and even the menopause, have been dismissed as anxiety and depression. As a therapist, I believe there is no stigma if you do have anxiety or depression, but problems occur when you are told you do and you don’t. Not only is it likely that any the treatments you receive will be ineffective, they could actually do you harm, as could the delayed diagnosis and the mental health consequences of medical gaslighting.
How can medical gaslighting affect your mental health?
One of the biggest issues is that society places medical professionals in a position of power. We are taught to defer to their authority. This can mean you may:
- Accept their conclusions or find it difficult to challenge their diagnosis (or lack of diagnosis)
- Question yourself and wonder whether your symptoms are ‘real’ or aren’t actually as bad as they feel
- No longer trust what your body is telling you
- Feel distrustful of medical professionals because they’ve said it’s ‘all in your head’ or that you are ‘drug seeking’ when all you want is a diagnosis or pain relief
- Feel unheard and that your lived experience is invalidated
- Struggle with symptoms due to missed or the wrong diagnosis
- Actually experience anxiety and depression due to your symptoms or the medical gaslighting
- Find family, friends and colleagues also dismiss your experience and symptoms because you ‘got the all clear’
How can counselling help when you’ve experienced medical gaslighting
Counselling and psychotherapy provide a safe space where you can explore your experience of medical gaslighting and how it’s affected you. It will give you the chance to:
- Discuss the true impact of your symptoms on your quality of life in a non-judgemental setting
- Explore emotions such as distress, anger, disappointment and fear
- Practice ways you can become more assertive in a medical setting
- Build self-esteem and learn to trust your own experience, symptoms and emotions
- Develop coping strategies
- Ensure you have mental health support you if you decide to seek a second opinion
Ultimately, counselling and psychotherapy can be empowering because it allows you to rewrite the narrative of your medical journey, placing you firmly back in the centre of your experience with someone who listens and believes you.
If you have a chronic illness or condition, have experienced medical gaslighting and would like counselling to help you process your experience, then why not arrange a free 15 minute introductory call.
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