When you seek medical help, you place your trust in a doctor, nurse or healthcare professional to listen to your concerns and investigate your symptoms. It is a doctor's responsibility to take a patient's concerns seriously, and it is important that these are investigated appropriately.

It is undeniable that most medical professionals are motivated to assist and support patients and do so. Clear communication and patients advocating for themselves will help further ensure concerns are discussed and addressed.

You may have seen reference to medical gaslighting, which refers to circumstances where a doctor or other medical care provider can be seen to dismiss a patient's symptoms, minimise their concerns, or wrongly attribute their physical illness to psychological factors. Patients may be made to feel that their symptoms have not been fully investigated or worrying unnecessarily when, in fact, they may be experiencing a serious medical condition that could worsen without treatment.

Medical gaslighting can lead to delayed or incorrect diagnosis, prolonged suffering, and worse health outcomes. Further, it can cause a patient to doubt their own instincts about their own body. In some cases, when patients’ concerns have not been listened to and they experience an injury, illness or chronic health condition getting worse as a result, they may be entitled to compensation. Learning more about how medical gaslighting works can help you to determine whether you should investigate a claim for compensation in your circumstances.

There are several reasons why medical gaslighting may occur, and why it seems to be growing in prominence as a concern in the UK. Here, the expert medical negligence solicitors at JMW explain the common reasons why medical gaslighting happens and how recognising it can help you to advocate for the standard of healthcare you deserve.

Why Do Patients Experience Medical Gaslighting?

Medical gaslighting is very rarely due entirely to mistakes by individual doctors, nurses or medical practitioners. It is often the result of a complex mix of deep-seated systemic issues and the immense pressures within the modern healthcare system.

For example, GPs aim to keep appointments to a time limit, which helps to maintain schedules but could also pose a risk of serious conditions being missed, as doctors may not have had enough time to discuss complex health issues thoroughly. It sometimes means that seemingly minor symptoms are dismissed when, in light of the full evidence, they warrant investigation as possible red flag indicators of a more serious condition. This is why it is so important to use these appointments to describe and discuss symptoms in as much detail as possible to ensure you get the advice you need.

Other common factors that can lead to medical gaslighting include:

Systemic biases in healthcare settings

One of the most significant reasons why medical gaslighting happens is the presence of implicit bias within medicine. These unconscious attitudes and stereotypes can affect a doctor’s understanding, actions and decisions.

Research consistently shows that medical gaslighting disproportionately affects women. For centuries, medicine has viewed the male body as the default. This has meant that the effects of certain illnesses on women's bodies are not well documented, especially where they do not experience the same symptoms as men, and that health concerns that are exclusive to women's bodies have historically been misunderstood or trivialised.

Multiple studies have shown that pain may be labelled as “emotional”, “psychosomatic” or “hysterical”, and that symptoms experienced by women that indicate serious conditions, like heart disease, are more likely to be attributed to anxiety or stress.

Racial and ethnic minorities, particularly Black patients, are also at a higher risk of experiencing gaslighting because of embedded racial biases in the medical system, especially women of colour. Other biases exist around weight, and many patients with a higher Body Mass Index find that health concerns are blamed on their weight. For example, a doctor might dismiss symptoms like joint pain, fatigue, or shortness of breath as simply a consequence of obesity without exploring other potential causes. Some doctors are hesitant to prescribe pain medication in these cases, believing that losing weight will be the best way to alleviate this pain. While weight management is an important part of many conditions, the important factor is that other conditions are also investigated in full.  This is a form of what is sometimes called “diagnostic overshadowing”, meaning that serious conditions can be missed.

Diagnostic challenges

Medicine is complex, and diagnosis is not always straightforward. There are many reasons why patients may struggle to secure a diagnosis or receive the medical care they need that are not the fault of an individual doctor, but may be caused by underlying risks.

Doctors are trained to first rule out common conditions, but when a healthcare provider lacks knowledge about a particular illness, they may dismiss it rather than admit uncertainty. The approach can also mean that patients with rare diseases feel dismissed, as it could take a long time before any progress is made in diagnosing the problem.

A cognitive bias that sometimes comes into play is anchoring bias, where a doctor relies too heavily on the first piece of information they receive. If a patient has a history of a particular condition, a doctor might “anchor” to that diagnosis and attribute new physical symptoms to the previous problem without investigating it thoroughly. A related problem is the diagnostic overshadowing mentioned above, where a patient’s pre-existing condition - such as a mental health diagnosis, chronic illness, or intellectual disability - overshadows the assessment of a new health complaint. The new symptoms are wrongly assumed to be a manifestation of their existing condition.

Communication breakdowns and power dynamics

The power imbalance involved in the patient-provider relationship can exacerbate the feeling of medical gaslighting. A doctor holds medical expertise and authority, which can make it intimidating for a patient to question their judgement or push them to answer questions.

When a doctor doesn't explain their reasoning clearly, or fails to discuss what other possibilities they are considering, a patient can be left feeling ignored. Poor communication can make a patient feel like their concerns are invalid, even if the doctor has a sound medical reason for their decisions. It can also make it hard for the patient to advocate for themselves and push the doctor to undertake a more thorough investigation.

What Can I Do About Gaslighting in the Medical System?

If you believe that medical gaslighting led to a delay in diagnosis or treatment, and this negatively impacted your health, our expert medical negligence solicitors are ready to help. The team at JMW has a wealth of experience in supporting people who have been misdiagnosed or not received the treatment they needed because the symptoms they reported were dismissed. If you believe that your concerns are being dismissed, there are steps you can take to avoid medical gaslighting or improve the strength of a potential claim.

Before you see your doctor, write down a clear, concise description of your symptoms. Bring a trusted friend or family member to your appointment to act as a witness, take notes, help you remember details, or speak up on your behalf if you feel dismissed. If you feel your concerns are being brushed aside, try asking direct questions about the doctor’s thought process or reasoning for clarification, and insist on having these aspects documented in your medical records.

If you are not satisfied with the answers you are receiving or feel you have experienced medical gaslighting, try seeking advice from another doctor or specialist, who may provide a more accurate diagnosis. If you are diagnosed with a condition that has worsened as a result of the initial dismissal, all of the above actions can support your right to make a compensation claim.