The Gaslighting Epidemic: Women's Healthcare & the Battle for Validation

In recent years, the term gaslighting has gained significant recognition. It refers to the psychological manipulation technique where someone makes another person question their own reality and sanity. However, when it comes to the state of women's healthcare, this term resonates more than ever.

Women have long been subjected to a system that undermines their physical and emotional well-being. From dismissive attitudes towards their pain, to the constant battle to be heard and taken seriously, the gaslighting within women's healthcare is pervasive. It is a system that often downplays their symptoms, invalidates their experiences, and leaves them feeling powerless and unheard.

For far too long, women have been made to doubt their own bodies and intuition, as if their concerns are simply a figment of their imagination. They are told that their symptoms are "just a part of being a woman" or that they are exaggerating their pain. This constant invalidation erodes their trust in themselves and the healthcare system that is meant to support them.

Gaslighting in women's healthcare can also be seen in the way their concerns are often dismissed or minimized as "hormonal" or "emotional." This not only diminishes the seriousness of their issues but also perpetuates harmful stereotypes that undermine their experiences. As a result, many women suffer in silence, afraid to speak up or seek the care they desperately need.

Moreover, the gaslighting extends beyond individual interactions to the systemic level. Women's health concerns are often underfunded, understudied, and overshadowed by male-centric research. In fact, it wasn't until the 1990s that research was required to INCLUDE women at all. 

It is high time that we acknowledge and address the gaslighting within women's healthcare. Every woman deserves to have her concerns heard, her pain validated, and her health prioritized. By empowering women to trust their own experiences and advocating for a healthcare system that supports and values them, we can begin to dismantle the harmful dynamics that perpetuate gaslighting. Women's health should no longer be a battleground, but a space where their voices are not only heard but respected. Only then can we truly provide the care and support that every woman deserves.

If you have personally experienced medical gaslighting, I would greatly appreciate hearing your story. Particularly, if you have discovered effective methods to assert yourself and advocate for improved treatment within the medical system.