Does Discrimination and the Disenfranchisement of Women in the Health Care System Impact an ERISA Disability Insurance Claim?
A recent study, “Women’s Experiences of Health-Related Communicative Disenfranchisement,” published in Health Communication, confirms that many women’s health concerns are often dismissed by physicians. According to the study, many women’s health concerns are met with disbelief that “discredits, silences and/or stereotypes one’s… experiences.” This is “medical gaslighting.” By “gaslighting,” I mean the tendency to treat someone’s complaints as if they were unimportant or just imaginary. It is a way of dismissing someone’s concerns as if they weren’t real. This dismissal, disbelief and being written off as just anxious or depressed, is all too common in my experience with women who have reproductive...
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