Medical Gaslighting in Young Women

Previous research has demonstrated that women have historically received a lower quality of care in medical settings (Angus et al., 2013). Due to the development of long-COVID in recent years, the term medical gaslighting has become established in mainstream culture. It is thought to be another factor that can negatively impact quality of care (Au et al., 2022). Medical gaslighting describes the experience of patients when healthcare providers downplay the severity of, or dismiss entirely, mental and/or physical health symptoms, often due to a perceived power imbalance (Sebring, 2021). This study aims to determine the types and prevalence of medical gaslighting within a sample of young women, aged 18 to 25. 80 participants who identify as women were recruited from University of Windsor’s Psychology Participant Pool. The participants answered a series of quantitative and a qualitative open-response question about a negative healthcare experience. Qualitative analysis using the method inductive content analysis was completed on the open-response question. Medical gaslighting was endorsed in n=69 (86.25%) of participants. Of those, the most frequently reported type of medical gaslighting was Downplaying or Dismissing Symptoms (57.97%). Other types included Blaming Period or Hormonal Changes, Blaming Stress or Mental Illness, and Lack of Information.