Feeling like you need your Caregiver to substantiate your symptoms

Feeling like you need your Caregiver to substantiate your symptoms

No myositis patient should feel their medical staff is not taking them seriously, especially because of their gender.1 min


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Chronic illness and #MyositisWarrior patients often report that they encounter disbelief from medical professionals; sometimes women with chronic illness state their treatment is even worse amounting to condescension. No patient should feel their medical staff is not taking them seriously, especially because of their gender. Does this harken to the antiquated notions of female hysteria? Does it play on stereotypes of women as drama queens?

For whatever reason that it does occur, it can be frustrating and upsetting for women, especially ones who view themselves as independent and perfectly capable of speaking for themselves to feel they need a spouse or other person to come along to new appointment to provide “back-up” or validation of the symptoms they are reporting.

The long-term bias against women in medicine (including how medical studies have been conducted) can actually lead to delays in diagnosis, treatment, and in the long-run can cause lasting harm in women’s health matters.

Don’t take our word for it:

https://www.today.com/health/gender-bias-health-care-may-be-harming-women-s-health-t133583

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4800017/

Do you have an experience to share dealing with gender bias in healthcare? Click Compose to get started. 


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Myositis Support

This is the official #MyositisLIFE account of Myositis Support and Understanding Association (MSU),  a patient-led, patient-centered, all-volunteer 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded by myositis patients for myositis patients and caregivers.

MSU is Empowering the Myositis Community through education, support, advocacy, clinical trial matching, financial assistance, and access to research. We are working to improve the day to day lives of myositis patients and their caregivers. Learn more about MSU and myositis by visiting our comprehensive myositis website at Understandingmyositis.org.

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One Comment

  1. When I told my gynecologist about my diagnosis of DM, she said “if there were as many men diagnosed with autoimmune diseases as women, there would have already been a cure.”

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