Chronic Pain All in Your Head
Chronic Pain All in Your Head is often the diagnosis from medical professionals who cannot find a physical cause. This reasoning disproportionately affects women and reinforces gender bias in medicine.
Healthcare providers often struggle with their reasoning when encountering patients with difficult-to-explain symptoms. Medical understanding of pain and anatomy is lacking. The symptoms are presumed to be psychological in origin. Women are more likely to be prescribed sedatives or antidepressants for pain, while men are more likely to receive pain medication.
A 2024 study found that 45% of patients with vulvovaginal pain were told they “needed to relax” and 39% were made to feel “crazy”.
The assertion that ‘pain is all in your head’ is supported by extensive research highlighting a pervasive “gender pain gap”. Women are more likely to experience chronic pain conditions than men, however they face greater challenges in having their symptoms taken seriously. They often have their pain psychologized, dismissed, or attributed to hormones.
This failure of the medical system to adequately address women’s pain, frequently referred to as medical gaslighting, leads to dangerous delays in diagnosis and treatment
Such diagnosis causes significant harm. Serious conditions are untreated. Women no longer trust in the medical profession. After outlining the harms associated with psychogenic diagnoses, we consider the objection that such diagnoses might be pragmatically justified.
A 2024 parliamentary inquiry in the UK found that “misogyny in medicine” leaves women with chronic conditions (like endometriosis) undiagnosed for years, with symptoms often normalized or dismissed.
We must have a more nuanced approach to diagnosing and treating chronic pain.
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If you’re ready to discuss your situation or have any questions please contact Dr Victoria Handley today. Don’t suffer in silence. Call FREE on 0800 470 2009 or email vhandley@handleylaw.co.uk