I llness invalidation by medical professionals—sometimes called “gaslighting”—is an underappreciated and understudied problem in Lyme disease.
Many Lyme disease patients complain not only of fighting to recover their health but also of fighting to be believed by health care practitioners.
Expecting to receive understanding and proficient care from medical professionals, many instead experience having their persistent debilitating symptoms dismissed, minimized, disbelieved and/or psychologized.
How common is the occurrence of medical gaslighting in Lyme disease? Is illness invalidation by medical professionals related to disease severity? Are there specific constituencies who are being affected more than others?
These are some of the questions that a team of researchers led by Alison Rebman, MPH, Assistant Professor in Medicine and Director for Clinical and Epidemiological Research at the Johns Hopkins Lyme Disease Research Center at Johns Hopkins Medicine, set out to identify and quantify in a cohort of well-characterized Lyme disease patients.
Invalidating encounters
The Johns Hopkins study, published in August 2024 in Scientific Reports, finds that invalidating encounters with medical professionals are common for post-treatment Lyme disease (PTLD) patients, particularly women and younger patients, and also are linked to higher illness severity………Join or login below to continue reading.
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