What Is Medical Gaslighting — And How to Recognise It When It Happens to You

Women's Health & Advocacy
Written By Totally Fine Co

You leave the appointment feeling confused. You know something is wrong. But somehow, over the course of a ten-minute consultation, you've been made to feel like the problem is you: your anxiety, your sensitivity, your tendency to catastrophise (assume the worst). This has a name. It's called medical gaslighting (when a healthcare professional dismisses, minimises, or fails to properly investigate a patient's reported symptoms making the patient doubt their own experience), and it is not rare.

What the research actually says

Medical gaslighting was formally recognised in the academic literature in 2020, when a first-person account was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) — a leading medical journal — by a patient whose symptoms were repeatedly dismissed before she was eventually diagnosed with long COVID. Since then, the term has been increasingly used in research to describe a well-documented pattern of patient experience, particularly for women (PMC/NIH, 2023). A 2024 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (a major scientific journal) analysed over 21,000 emergency department records and found that female patients were consistently less likely to be prescribed pain relief medication than male patients — even when they reported the same level of pain. The researchers described the stereotypical perception of women's pain as "exaggerated" as a key mechanism driving this gap (PNAS, 2024).

Current research identifies medical gaslighting as most common when the patient is a woman — and disproportionately experienced by women with conditions like PCOS/PMOS (a hormonal and metabolic condition), endometriosis, adenomyosis (a condition where tissue that normally lines the womb grows into the muscle of the womb wall), and other chronic (long-term) gynaecological conditions (University of Windsor / Re-Solve Global Health, 2024).

What does it look, sound, and feel like?

Medical gaslighting doesn't always look like a doctor being rude or dismissive. Sometimes it is subtle. Common experiences include being told:

  • "Your tests are normal" — with no follow-up question about why symptoms persist

  • "It's probably just stress"

  • "You'd feel better if you lost some weight"

  • "That's just part of being a woman"

  • "You seem very anxious about this"

  • "I think you might benefit from speaking to someone" — said in response to a physical complaint, with no physical investigation

It can also look like shortened appointments, being talked over, having your concerns redirected without acknowledgement, or being referred for mental health support before physical causes have been properly explored.

Why does it happen?

Research points to several interconnected factors: deep-seated societal beliefs that women are more emotionally reactive, gaps in medical education around women's health conditions, implicit bias (unconscious prejudice that affects decision-making without awareness), and time pressure in clinical settings. It is rarely — if ever — deliberate cruelty. But the impact is the same regardless of intent.

What can you do?

You cannot always control how you are received. What you can do is make your symptoms as clear, structured, and undeniable as possible. Documenting the frequency, severity, and impact of your symptoms - including how they affect your work, sleep, relationships, and daily activities — creates a record that is harder to dismiss than a verbal summary under pressure.

You also have the right to ask for a second opinion. You have the right to ask for a referral. You have the right to bring someone with you to appointments. And you have the right to ask your doctor to record in your notes that you raised a concern.

You're not dramatic. You're not oversensitive. You're paying attention to your own body. That matters.

References:

This post is for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute medical advice or diagnosis. If you are concerned about your symptoms, please speak with a qualified healthcare provider.

Totally Fine Co
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