Medical gaslighting: Difference between revisions

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==ME/CFS==
==ME/CFS==
{{Graph|width=200|height=400|type=rect|xAxisTitle=ME/CFS patients who experienced a dismissive attitude from a health professional|yAxisTitle=%|legend=false|x=1,2,3,4,5|y1=89.1|y2=10.9|y2Title=|y1Title=|colors={{MEActionRed}},{{MEActionBlue}}}}
{{Graph|width=400|height=400|type=rect|xAxisTitle=ME/CFS patients who experienced a dismissive attitude from a health professional
People with [[ME/CFS]] typically experience healthcare professionals who dismiss or ignore their health problems,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lapp|first=Charles W.|author-link=Charles Lapp|last2=|first2=|author-link2=|last3=|first3=|author-link3=|last4=|first4=|author-link4=|last5=|first5=|author-link5=|last6=|first6=|author-link6=|last7=|first7=|last8=|first8=|date=2019|title=Initiating Care of a Patient With Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)|url=https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fped.2018.00415/full|journal=Frontiers in Pediatrics|language=English|volume=6|issue=|pages=|doi=10.3389/fped.2018.00415|issn=2296-2360|pmc=|pmid=|access-date=|quote=|via=}}</ref> or attribute their ME/CFS symptoms as coming from a psychological rather than physical cause, leading to inappropriate treatments.  
Source: Health Care Women Int. 2019 Mar; 40(3): 241–258.
|yAxisTitle=% of ME/CFS  patients|legend=|x=89.1,10.9|y1=|y2=|y2Title=|y1Title=|colors={{MEActionRed}},{{MEActionBlue}}}}
People with [[ME/CFS]] typically experience healthcare professionals who dismiss or ignore their health problems,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lapp|first=Charles W.|author-link=Charles Lapp|date=2019|title=Initiating Care of a Patient With Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)|url=https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fped.2018.00415/full|journal=Frontiers in Pediatrics|language=English|volume=6|issue=|pages=|doi=10.3389/fped.2018.00415|issn=2296-2360|pmc=|pmid=|access-date=|quote=|via=}}</ref> or attribute their ME/CFS symptoms as coming from a psychological rather than physical cause, leading to inappropriate treatments.


Similar behavior is experienced by patients with certain chronic illnesses, particularly those that also [[Female predominant diseases|disproportionately affect women]], such as [[endometriosis]],<ref name=":1" /> [[chronic pain]],<ref name=":2" /> [[fibromyalgia]], [[irritable bowel syndrome]], and [[Medically unexplained physical symptoms|medically unexplained symptoms]] (sometimes called persistent physical symptoms).<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.virology.ws/2020/10/20/trial-by-error-long-covid-me-cfs-and-medically-unexplained-symptoms/|title=Trial By Error: Some Thoughts on Long-Covid, ME/CFS and MUS|last=Tuller|first=David|authorlink=David Tuller|last2=|first2=|authorlink2=|date=|website=[[Virology blog]]|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=2020-10-24}}</ref> People with [[long COVID]] are also reporting gaslighting by medics.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2020-10-23/doctors-with-long-covid-warn-long-term-effects-can-be-serious/12785934|title=Doctors warn of lasting effects of COVID-19 after struggling to recover from virus|last=Mitchell|first=Natasha|authorlink=|last2=|first2=|authorlink2=|date=2020-10-22|website=ABC News {{!}} Health & Wellbeing|language=en-AU|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=2020-10-24}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/12/health/children-coronavirus-long-haulers-wellness/index.html|title=Kids struggle with Covid-19 and its months of aftermath|last=Prior|first=Ryan|authorlink=Ryan Prior|last2=|first2=|authorlink2=|date=Oct 12, 2020|website=CNN|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=2020-10-24}}</ref>
Similar behavior is experienced by patients with certain chronic illnesses, particularly those that also [[Female predominant diseases|disproportionately affect women]], such as [[endometriosis]],<ref name=":1" /> [[chronic pain]],<ref name=":2" /> [[fibromyalgia]], [[irritable bowel syndrome]], and [[Medically unexplained physical symptoms|medically unexplained symptoms]] (sometimes called persistent physical symptoms).<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.virology.ws/2020/10/20/trial-by-error-long-covid-me-cfs-and-medically-unexplained-symptoms/|title=Trial By Error: Some Thoughts on Long-Covid, ME/CFS and MUS|last=Tuller|first=David|authorlink=David Tuller|last2=|first2=|authorlink2=|date=|website=[[Virology blog]]|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=2020-10-24}}</ref> People with [[long COVID]] are also reporting gaslighting by medics.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2020-10-23/doctors-with-long-covid-warn-long-term-effects-can-be-serious/12785934|title=Doctors warn of lasting effects of COVID-19 after struggling to recover from virus|last=Mitchell|first=Natasha|authorlink=|last2=|first2=|authorlink2=|date=2020-10-22|website=ABC News {{!}} Health & Wellbeing|language=en-AU|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=2020-10-24}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/12/health/children-coronavirus-long-haulers-wellness/index.html|title=Kids struggle with Covid-19 and its months of aftermath|last=Prior|first=Ryan|authorlink=Ryan Prior|last2=|first2=|authorlink2=|date=Oct 12, 2020|website=CNN|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=2020-10-24}}</ref>

Revision as of 22:33, October 24, 2020

Medical gaslighting is term used to describe doctors or medical practitioners who blame a patient's illness or symptoms on psychological factors, or deny a patient's illness entirely.[1][2][3]

Gaslighting is a form of emotional abuse which involves persistently denying or refusing to accept facts, and frequently leads to the other person doubting their own experiences.[4] People experiencing gaslighting often begin to question their own reality or may feel "crazy", particularly if the person gaslighting them has greater authority or personal power. Gaslighting almost always involves multiple incidents and is particularly effective if several different people gaslight the same person.[5] Victims of gaslighting may become anxious or depressed as a result.

Gaslighting by medics is more commonly experienced by certain patient groups, particularly women, and in illnesses which do not yet have a clear diagnostic tests, for example ME/CFS, chronic pain, and endometriosis. This form of gaslighting may be done either consciously or unconsciously.[5]

ME/CFS[edit | edit source]

People with ME/CFS typically experience healthcare professionals who dismiss or ignore their health problems,[6] or attribute their ME/CFS symptoms as coming from a psychological rather than physical cause, leading to inappropriate treatments.

Similar behavior is experienced by patients with certain chronic illnesses, particularly those that also disproportionately affect women, such as endometriosis,[3] chronic pain,[7] fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, and medically unexplained symptoms (sometimes called persistent physical symptoms).[8] People with long COVID are also reporting gaslighting by medics.[9][10]

A number of researchers who promote the biopsychosocial model of ME/CFS have been described as gaslighting ME/CFS patients and intimidating ME/CFS advocates,[8][11] and research has shown that health professionals routinely suggest or provide inappropriate and harmful treatments,[12][13] wrongly suggest that all symptoms result from mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, or somatization or are in some way "all in their head".[13][7]

Notable studies and publications[edit | edit source]

  • 2008, Obstructions for quality care experienced by patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)—A case study[15] (Abstract)
  • 2017, Epistemic injustice in healthcare encounters: evidence from chronic fatigue syndrome[18] (Full text)
  • 2019, Legitimizing myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: indications of change over a decade[19] - (Abstract)
  • 2019, Dismissing chronic illness: A qualitative analysis of negative health care experiences[13] - (Full text)

News and articles[edit | edit source]

  • 2018, Memoirs of Disease and Disbelief Porochista Khakpour’s deliberately unheroic “Sick” raises questions about what we expect of female patients with chronic illness - The New Yorker

Articles and blogs[edit | edit source]

Learn more[edit | edit source]

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. Mitchell, Natasha (October 22, 2020). "Doctors warn of lasting effects of COVID-19 after struggling to recover from virus". www.abc.net.au. Retrieved October 24, 2020. Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  2. Nelson, Hilde Lindemann (2001). "Narrative Repair: Reclaiming Moral Agency". Damaged Identities, Narrative Repair. Cornell University Press. pp. 29–30. ISBN 978-0-8014-8740-8.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Weiss, Suzannah (March 6, 2018). "How Doctors Gaslight Women into Doubting Their Own Pain". www.vice.com. Retrieved October 24, 2020. Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  4. "gaslight, v." Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved October 24, 2020. Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  5. 5.0 5.1 Pickles, Camilla; Herring, Jonathan (August 23, 2019). Childbirth, Vulnerability and Law: Exploring Issues of Violence and Control. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-81290-3.
  6. Lapp, Charles W. (2019). "Initiating Care of a Patient With Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)". Frontiers in Pediatrics. 6. doi:10.3389/fped.2018.00415. ISSN 2296-2360.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Benjamin J., Newton; Southall, Jane L.; Raphael, Jon H.; Ashford, Robert L.; LeMarchand, Karen (2013). "A Narrative Review of the Impact of Disbelief in Chronic Pain". Pain Manag Nurs. pp. 161–171. Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  8. 8.0 8.1 Tuller, David. "Trial By Error: Some Thoughts on Long-Covid, ME/CFS and MUS". Virology blog. Retrieved October 24, 2020. Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  9. Mitchell, Natasha (October 22, 2020). "Doctors warn of lasting effects of COVID-19 after struggling to recover from virus". ABC News | Health & Wellbeing. Retrieved October 24, 2020. Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  10. Prior, Ryan (October 12, 2020). "Kids struggle with Covid-19 and its months of aftermath". CNN. Retrieved October 24, 2020. Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  11. Hughes, Brian (March 21, 2019). "If you spend 20 years gaslighting your patients, perhaps you should think twice before accusing *them* of trolling *you*". The Science Bit. Retrieved October 24, 2020. Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  12. 12.0 12.1 Blease, Charlotte; Geraghty, Keith (September 15, 2016). "Cognitive behavioural therapy in the treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome: A narrative review on efficacy and informed consent" (Journal of Health Psychology). doi:10.1177/1359105316667798. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 McManimen, Stephanie; McClellan, Damani; Stoothoff, Jamie; Gleason, Kristen; Jason, Leonard A. (March 4, 2019). "Dismissing chronic illness: A qualitative analysis of negative health care experiences". Health Care for Women International. 40 (3): 241–258. doi:10.1080/07399332.2018.1521811. ISSN 0739-9332.
  14. Hooper, Malcolm (2003). "THE MENTAL HEALTH MOVEMENT: PERSECUTION OF PATIENTS? A consideration of the role of Professor Simon Wessely and other members of the "Wessely School" in the perception of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) in the UK.
    Background Briefing for the House of Commons Select Health Committee"
    (PDF). Retrieved October 15, 2018.
    Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  15. Gilje, Ann Marit; Söderlund, Atle; Malterud, Kirsti (October 2008). "Obstructions for quality care experienced by patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)—A case study". Patient Education and Counseling. 73 (1): 36–41. doi:10.1016/j.pec.2008.04.001.
  16. Dimmock, Mary; Lazell-Fairman, Matthew (December 2015). "THIRTY YEARS OF DISDAIN: How HHS and a group of psychiatrists Buried Myalgic Encephalomyelitis" (PDF). Retrieved November 5, 2018. Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  17. Geraghty, Keith; Esmail, Aneez (August 1, 2016). "Chronic fatigue syndrome: is the biopsychosocial model responsible for patient dissatisfaction and harm?". British Journal of General Practice. 66 (649): 437-438. doi:10.3399/bjgp16X686473.
  18. Blease, Charlotte; Carel, Havi; Geraghty, Keith (August 1, 2017). "Epistemic injustice in healthcare encounters: evidence from chronic fatigue syndrome". Journal of Medical Ethics. 43 (8): 549–557. doi:10.1136/medethics-2016-103691. ISSN 0306-6800. PMID 27920164.
  19. Friedberg, Fred (January 2, 2020). "Legitimizing myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: indications of change over a decade". Fatigue: Biomedicine, Health & Behavior. 8 (1): 24–31. doi:10.1080/21641846.2020.1718292. ISSN 2164-1846.