Study: Medical Gaslighting Can Impact Patients For Years

A study from Rutgers University examined reports of over 11,000 patients to better understand the impact of medical gaslighting. These patients were diagnosed with conditions that are sometimes hard to pinpoint, like fibromyalgia, endometriosis, and long COVID. “Patients report that clinicians dismiss, ignore, or brush them off when they describe their symptoms,” researchers wrote. This dismissal can have a lasting psychological impact, with patients beginning to doubt themselves or feel “crazy.” This lasting emotional damage can result in diagnostic delays, which could mean conditions worsen without treatment. “I have actually sat and questioned my own sanity,” one patient with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome said. Researchers suggest clinicians communicate uncertainty if they don’t know why a patient feels a certain way instead of dismissing symptoms as “nothing.” (Study Finds)