Medical gaslighting, having your health concerns dismissed by a doctor, is a common practice that many patients experience — and it can be hard to spot when it's not so straightforward.
Some of the things your doctors say may not feel like outright red flags, but should still be met with curiosity and might even call for a tough decision. Untreated health problems can have dire consequences and not feeling supported by your doctor when you have symptoms and concerns could mean it's time to switch your care provider.
There are two phrases your doctor may say that Dr. LaTasha Seliby Perkins, a family physician at Georgetown University, advises you pay closer attention to on your next visit.
2 red flag phrases that could signal your doctor is dismissing your concerns
'Your symptoms are vague'
If after describing your symptoms and giving concrete details about what you're experiencing, "you keep hearing the words 'vague' and 'unclear,' that's something that means that they can't really interpret the information you're giving," Seliby Perkins says.
When your doctor isn't able to provide a diagnosis and doesn't offer additional context for what you're experiencing, "that's kind of a red flag for if they're listening to you, or if they're the right doctor," she adds.
Even if your health problem is beyond your doctor's scope and specialty, rather than denying there's any issue at all, there is a way for that doctor to support you.
"If they can't figure it out, maybe that means you need a referral to a specialist," Seliby Perkins says.
You hear 'somatization' too soon
Somatization is "a medical term for when you embody stress," Seliby Perkins says. "You may feel it in like an organ, but it seems like you're somaticizing your stress, instead of there actually being a clear diagnosis."
Sometimes somatization is a fair diagnosis, but only after your doctor has run tests to be sure that your pain is indeed stress-induced and nothing more serious.
"If there's been a complete workup, you've seen multiple specialists and done lots of imaging, and you still can't come up with a diagnosis, somatization is a real diagnosis for something like that," Seliby Perkins says.
"But if you just met, and it's your first time talking through your symptoms, you shouldn't hear that diagnosis early on."
How to confront red flags from your doctor
If you hear one of these phrases and you're looking to get more answers, Seliby Perkins suggests you ask these questions:
- What are the next steps of care based on what I've described?
- Can you tell me what you're thinking based on my symptoms?
- What are you considering when I explain my symptoms?
"If you can't get clear answers about what they know and don't know, then that's a red flag. The doctor should be in a space that they understand that this is a team," she says.
As a team, your job is to inform your doctor and give them all of the information about what you're experiencing, Seliby Perkins says. And your doctor's job is to suggest tests and labs to get more information, then interpret the information and offer up options for treatment or further study.
Walking away after asking these questions and still feeling unsupported may mean it's time to find a new doctor.
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