How To Address Medical Gaslighting Among Seniors?

Most of the time, seniors feel that the doctor is not listening to them. Unfortunately, many of us felt that the doctor dismissed our health concerns. But this does not mean that doctors do not take their jobs seriously. It might mean that some concerns are not that severe. 

This might also be the case when the doctor believes this is the best treatment for your loved ones. But doctors ignore or misdiagnose a condition in most of the cases which is a sign of medical gaslighting. 

Medical gaslighting if taken lightly can lead to improper treatment among seniors. Let us learn more about medical gaslighting and what to do in such a case.

Medical gaslighting 

The medical gaslighting term is used to describe manipulating relationships due to which someone can doubt themselves. However, the term is commonly used in medical conditions where seniors do not feel that they are heard. 

It refers to a situation where a healthcare professional is blaming the senior’s health concerns on psychological symptoms. Doctors might say that this is nothing to worry about or the symptoms are not that very severe. 

The research reveals that the medical gaslighting phenomenon is more popular in women, people of color, and individuals with chronic conditions. 

However medical concerns always need to be taken seriously as these could have severe implications on seniors’ health. 

Medical Gaslighting Signs 

Most seniors do not know if they’re the victim of medical gaslighting or not. Consequently, here are some signs to watch out for to figure out if seniors are experiencing medical gaslighting or not. 

• Healthcare provider blaming a mental illness that seniors have not been diagnosed with
• Healthcare provider imaging to pursue a diagnosis
• Seniors questioning their symptoms 
• Healthcare providers taking seniors symptoms lightly
• Seniors feel that their healthcare concerns are being dismissed
• A medical professional blaming seniors

Tips To Deal With Medical Gaslighting 

Most people have no idea what to do when they find out that seniors are undergoing medical gaslighting. Here are some tips outlined below to address medical gaslighting among seniors. 

Keep a journal

Consider keeping a journal with you if seniors at your home experience chronic symptoms. This will enable you to take note of seniors’ symptoms, how long they last, and what triggered those symptoms among seniors. 

Take notes

Maintaining a system journal is not enough. Along with this, also consider taking notes whenever you take seniors to the doctor’s appointment so you can refer back and follow up. While writing down notes, take note of current medications, lab tests, and medical history. 

Prepare questions 

Have some questions prepared before you go to a senior doctor’s appointment. Write down the questions you need to ask and take them to the appointment. If you have an online appointment, then you can send in the questions to the doctor so that he can review them before the appointment. 

Keep it concise

Most seniors tend to overshare at the doctor’s appointment. It is because seniors feel that the more the doctor knows, the better it will be. But to make the appointment more productive and help the doctor understand what you are feeling, prefer to keep it concise. 

Ask seniors to only highlight the present issues. Doing so will keep your communication with the doctor clear and also to the point. 

Have someone to go with seniors

Seniors should not go alone to the doctor’s appointment and there must be someone to accompany them to their appointment. The other person can hear what the doctor is saying to make sure that seniors are getting things the right way or not. 

Besides this, the other person can also remain calm and avoid getting stressed out due to the feeling of not being heard. Elderly care includes having someone else with seniors to help them as seniors might be easy targets of doctors for medical gaslighting.