Medical Gaslighting

How This Social Media Trend is Shedding Light on Healthcare Bias

In the midst of International Women's Month, a new hashtag labeled “medical gaslighting” is trending on TikTok, with thousands of videos going “viral” of women opening up about their terrifying experiences with healthcare workers when trying to receive an accurate medical diagnosis.

Medical gaslighting may be a relatively new term, but its practice has been affecting the outcome of women's health for decades.

An early 2019 study conducted by TODAY and Survey Monkey found that 20 percent of women reported feeling ignored or dismissed by a healthcare provider, and 17 percent feel they’ve been treated differently on account of their gender.

Last year, the American Heart Association reported that women who visited emergency rooms with chest pains waited nearly 30 percent longer than their male counterparts to be evaluated for potential heart attacks.

Not being taken seriously about medical concerns can be anxiety inducing, and often leads to a dangerous situation when afflictions are misdiagnosed– or all around ignored.

From the talk of chronic illness to ovarian cysts, endometriosis, and even cancer, TikTok is being utilized to instill change, and create awareness for women who have had their medical complications underestimated or dismissed.

Tati Skomski, a business and marketing mentor based in LA shared her Ulcerative Colitis diagnosis story on TikTok in July of 2022. Her video received nearly 150 thousand views and hundreds of comments in support from women who faced a similar issue when receiving a diagnosis.

At thirteen, Tati recalls having constant and unexplained stomach pains. “Every doctor my parents took me to always told me it was anxiety or cramps because I was a growing teenage girl,” she recalls.

It wasn’t until Tati had surgery for a completely separate issue that she faced a colitis flare up so severe, she nearly lost her life. “The doctor said it was one of the worst cases he had ever seen.” She was sixteen by the time she was diagnosed.

The Mayo Clinic describes Ulcerative Colitis as an inflammatory disease that causes ulcers to grow rapidly on the large intestine. When left untreated for an extended period of time, colon cancer is a threat. “Thankfully, I’m in remission now,” Tati sighs. “But I often think my symptoms and pain would have been taken way more seriously if I wasn’t going through puberty as a biological female.”

It is fair to say that healthcare workers are put under significant pressure to complete visits in short periods of time. A 2020 study conducted by The University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health found that the average primary care visit lasts just 18 minutes.

One could argue that 18 minutes is not long enough to deconstruct the complexity of the female reproductive system. With such a limited amount of time to diagnose, underlying biases and social constructs can cause providers to make significant errors.

“We deal with periods, menopause, birth control, all factors that are constantly undermined because we’re told so often it’s normal to feel pain,” says Tati. “They tell us to take some ibuprofen and show us to the door.”

The preconceived notion that pain is something women can’t handle or just have to “deal with” dates back to the early eighteenth century. Before doctors knew much of modern medicine, the word “hysteria,” which derives from the Greek word for “uterus” was coined as a legitimate medical term– associated with mental illness– to diagnose unexplained symptoms in women.

It may be shocking to hear it wasn’t until the 1980s when the term was no longer considered a psychological condition by the Department of Health and Human Services– but how much of healthcare has changed since then?

The American Autoimmune Disease Association claims that of the 50 million Americans who suffer from an autoimmune disease, about 75 percent are women, yet 40 percent of those women report being told by a medical professional that their pain is psychosomatic. In other words– it’s all in your head.

Tierney Geller, a twenty three-year old travel blogger shared her excitement over her recent endometriosis diagnosis via TikTok. “It took over a year and three doctors until I was finally able to get a straight answer,” says Tierney. When asked when her symptoms first began, Tierney let out a satirical laugh. “Oh gosh, I’d say like six months after I got my first period, so like eleven years old.”

Endometriosis is a common condition and affects one in ten women, yet Yale Medicine reports that on average, women in the United States will suffer endometriosis for ten years before receiving a proper diagnosis. This is often the case because endometriosis commonly mimics period symptoms, but its pain level is considered chronic and far more severe.

“This is what’s wrong with American culture,” says Tierney. “They (doctors) used my period as their own explanation for my pain. ‘Cramps are normal.’ They thought I was milking menstruation at twenty three years old!”

In cases like Tierney’s and Tati’s, it can be difficult to persevere without an accurate diagnosis or method of treatment in sight. Though it took years, they eventually met doctors who took their concerns seriously, but for many women in the United States, this is not the case.

For Tati, gender bias in healthcare is an epidemic, and promoting awareness is vital. “For how much we have advanced as a society, receiving unbiased healthcare shouldn’t be an issue anymore.” She sighs. “Yet…here we are.”