I've interviewed 60+ folks with dx'ed chronic illness about their entire health histories. I am not exaggerating when I say that every. single. one. of those patients was implicity or explicitly accused of faking before getting a dx.
#PatientsAreNotFaking
#PatientsAreNotFaking
For one thing, this tells me that a lot of practitioners are suffering from some serious confirmation bias. Especially because there is no feedback loop to tell all of those dismissive practitioners that they were WRONG.
#PatientsAreNotFaking
#PatientsAreNotFaking
And this isn't just a medical problem. Family, friends & colleagues see this message too.
People who trust the medical system use it as a proxy for deciding who is legitimately sick. So if medical professionals dismiss someone, everyone else does too.
#PatientsAreNotFaking
People who trust the medical system use it as a proxy for deciding who is legitimately sick. So if medical professionals dismiss someone, everyone else does too.
#PatientsAreNotFaking
Medical bias disproportionately effects BIPOC, fat folx, and women (more so people in those intersects).
But guess what? If you are an affluent cis white man who becomes chronically ill, you're in for a rude awakening. They often think you're faking too.
#PatientsAreNotFaking
But guess what? If you are an affluent cis white man who becomes chronically ill, you're in for a rude awakening. They often think you're faking too.
#PatientsAreNotFaking
^affects, obviously. I have evidently started to ignore grammarly, even when it's recommending something that I would actually change.
okay, time for some self-promo:
if you're sick and you've felt dismissed by doctors, then I want you to know that I believe you. I wrote a whole essay about it.
#PatientsAreNotFaking
medium.com/@bennessb/dear…
if you're sick and you've felt dismissed by doctors, then I want you to know that I believe you. I wrote a whole essay about it.
#PatientsAreNotFaking
medium.com/@bennessb/dear…
ps now I'm worrying that somebody has had a 100% validating experience that I somehow forgot about, soooo if that describes you plz lmk.
Aha! In episode 11, John's dx was okay, but it led to other dx'es for family.
He said:
"I can say my mother and my grandmother’s experience is markedly different than mine because male doctors, which are like most doctors, have a habit of diminishing the complaints of women."
He said:
"I can say my mother and my grandmother’s experience is markedly different than mine because male doctors, which are like most doctors, have a habit of diminishing the complaints of women."
For clarity, here are some examples of what I mean by implicitly accused of faking.
