How Can Nurses Help Stop Medical Gaslighting?

• Medical gaslighting can happen when a patient’s legitimate medical concern is dismissed by their provider.   
• Women are most commonly victims of medical gaslighting, along with people of color.  
• Patients who believe they are victims of medical gaslighting can work with a patient advocate to alleviate their concerns. 

Even though it isn’t always intentional, medical gaslighting can happen when a patient seeks medical care. It can result in severe medical conditions being left undiagnosed and untreated.  

Any patient can experience medical gaslighting. However, it has been shown to happen more frequently to women and people of color. You’ve probably heard the term used when talking about toxic relationships: gaslighting is when someone influences you into questioning your thoughts and feelings, and it can cause you to feel belittled and ignored. This kind of dynamic can exist outside of personal relationships, too.  

Medical gaslighting can happen when a patient comes to their provider with a legitimate medical concern, and it is dismissed. This can lead to a medical condition going undiagnosed longer than it should. Medical gaslighting is becoming more and more common, and as more people share their personal experiences, the term is being used to describe these situations. And not only does it lead to misdiagnosis but improper treatment and even medical trauma.   

Examples of Medical Gaslighting

Women, people of color, and those living with chronic conditions might be more likely to experience medical gaslighting. 

Medical gaslighting in women  

Women are one of the most common victims of medical gaslighting. Many times, they’re told their symptoms are due to premenstrual syndrome or mental health issues, regardless of the severity. In the past, female patients were diagnosed with “female hysteria” as a cause of their symptoms. Although this diagnosis is outdated, gender bias in healthcare still exists. A few examples include spending more time waiting in the emergency room for the same conditions or symptoms as men; conditions like endometriosis remaining undiagnosed until after surgery, despite multiple visits with healthcare providers; or heart disease symptoms being misdiagnosed as psychological conditions. 

Medical gaslighting based on race

People of color are also frequently affected by medical gaslighting. This is often rooted in racism, which is a public health crisis that has resulted in significant health disparities. For example, unconscious bias about race might influence how medical conditions are treated. This includes healthcare providers:  

• Believing that Black people have thicker skin and less-sensitive nerve endings.  
• Believing that Black people are biologically different from white people.  
• Being more than twice as likely to use a negative descriptor in a Black patient’s chart compared to a white patient. 

None of these beliefs and behaviors are based on truth, yet they persist. In practice, medical gaslighting can have devastating consequences.  

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been reports of patients being denied medication for COVID-19-related chest pain. While in the hospital, a patient said she had to beg a healthcare provider to take scans of her chest since they didn’t believe her symptoms. When she finally got a scan, it confirmed problems in her lungs.  

“I put forth, and I maintained that if I were white, I wouldn’t have to go through that,” the patient said. 

This patient died from complications from the virus two weeks after being discharged from the hospital, and sadly, there are many cases like this one.   

How to Know if a Healthcare Professional is Gaslighting

Medical gaslighting is not restricted to the public but also affects those who practice healthcare, including nurses, providers, and other healthcare professionals. Sometimes, medical gaslighting is obvious. But it is not always easy to spot. It can be as simple as the healthcare provider telling a patient their symptoms are typical or that they might just be stressed. This alone doesn’t necessarily equate to medical gaslighting.  

Below are some signs to look for if you think you might be experiencing medical gaslighting:  

• Having symptoms or concerns dismissed or ignored without cause.  
• Feeling as if the healthcare provider is blaming you (the patient).  
• Symptoms are written off as being normal without explanation.  
• Diagnosis is entirely or primarily based on the patient’s gender, race, sexuality, or irrelevant medical history without further testing.  
• Having to argue just to be listened to and taken seriously.  

How to address medical gaslighting

If a patient thinks they are a victim of medical gaslighting by a healthcare provider, there are steps – albeit tricky ones – they can take to deal with it. The patient can talk to the nurse about their concerns and that they don’t feel they’re being appropriately helped. As a nurse, you should encourage patients to do the following:  

• Keep a symptom journal: write down symptom information, like when symptoms start and stop, what makes them better or worse. This helps create a detailed record that the patient can bring to their appointment.  
• Prepare a list of questions: have the patient make a list of questions they want answered and use them to set the agenda for their visit.   
• Encourage the patient to take a friend or relative with them: if someone the patient trusts is available, encourage them to bring that person to their appointment. That person can then act as an advocate and witness.  
• Contact the patient advocate: patient advocates serve as liaisons between the patient and the healthcare provider and can help address conflicts that arise, including gaslighting. Many hospitals already have in-house patient advocates.  
• Get a second opinion: it may help the patient to talk to another medical professional about their concerns. The patient could visit a provider with a shared gender, race, and or ethnic background. Having another medical opinion will help the patient solidify if they’ve been gaslighted.  
• File a complaint: gaslighting can lead to severe consequences if a patient isn’t adequately treated. They may also be able to file a medical malpractice or negligence lawsuit if they’ve been harmed or injured.  

The Bottom Line

Medical gaslighting is when a healthcare provider dismisses patient concerns or symptoms, causing them to question themselves. Women and people of color commonly face medical gaslighting. It can be traumatizing, but there are steps the patient can take if they think they’re being subjected to medical gaslighting. 

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