It’s Not in Your Head”: How Medical Gaslighting Fails Women’s Health

May 6

Women across the world are dismissed, misdiagnosed, or told their symptoms are “normal”—when they’re anything but. This persistent dismissal, known as medical gaslighting, is far more than just poor bedside manner. It’s the symptom of a healthcare system built on male-centric research, outdated training, and deep-rooted bias.

To understand where this comes from, we have to look at the history of medicine—and why women are still fighting to be believed.

🏛 The Male-Centric Origins of Western Medicine

Western medicine has long been shaped by patriarchal systems. Historically, the study and practice of medicine excluded women both as practitioners and as patients in research. For centuries, men authored the textbooks, led the clinical trials, and decided what counted as “real” illness. Women's unique physiological and hormonal realities were minimized or pathologized—often dismissed as hysteria, anxiety, or "overreaction."

🔬 Gender Bias in Medical Research

For decades, most clinical studies were conducted exclusively on male subjects. Even today, research continues to underrepresent women—especially women of color, older women, and those with intersecting conditions.

This has resulted in dangerous knowledge gaps: heart attacks, autoimmune conditions, pain disorders, and even medication reactions often show up differently in women. But when the research is written for men, women are left out of the diagnostic equation.

🏥 Outdated Training = Dismissed Symptoms

Medical education is still catching up. Training is often based on outdated models that don’t include nuanced presentations of diseases in women. As a result, symptoms are brushed off, attributed to anxiety, hormones, or even laziness. When a woman says she’s in pain, exhausted, or not feeling like herself, she may be met with skepticism—rather than deeper investigation.

And if it’s not in the textbook? She’s told it’s probably just stress.

💔 The Toll of Medical Gaslighting

The consequences are devastating. Conditions like endometriosis, fibromyalgia, autoimmune disease, and thyroid disorders can go undiagnosed for years—if ever. Women internalize the belief that they are exaggerating, or that maybe it really is “all in their head.”

Beyond physical suffering, this erodes trust in the medical system. It also leads to poorer mental health outcomes, self-blame, and prolonged suffering that could have been prevented.

📣 It’s Time for Change

To undo the damage, we must acknowledge where medicine went wrong—and commit to doing better.

What needs to happen:

More Inclusive Research: Women must be included in clinical trials—across ages, ethnicities, and hormonal stages.
Updated Medical Education: Future doctors must be trained in sex-specific symptoms and conditions.
Systemic Accountability: Hospitals and practices need protocols that check gender bias.
Empowered Patients: Women deserve to trust their intuition, advocate for themselves, and demand better care.

✨ Final Thoughts

When a woman says, “I don’t feel right,” she shouldn’t be met with a shrug.

The idea that a woman needs to “prove” her pain or symptoms is a relic of the past. Medicine must evolve. Just because something doesn’t match a textbook doesn’t mean it isn’t real.

Women aren’t asking for special treatment. We’re asking to be heard, believed, and cared for—with the same curiosity, urgency, and dignity as anyone else.