Goddess of the Blessed Death

There is a problem with the medical system when the immediate response to unknown symptoms is “it must be psychosomatic”. When someone presents a series of symptoms that don’t fit neatly into easily testable diagnostic criteria, it challenges the power and knowledge of the medical system- not to mention the power and expertise of the individual doctor. In order to retain that power, the medical model devalues knowledge the patient brings into the interaction. Doctors not only dismiss the hard-won research you’ve done to try to bridge the gaps in their treatment, but also your personal expertise as the person who lives in your body. Thus the medical model retains the status-quo, and patients who don’t fit into easy-to-find boxes get shuttled around for years until someone is curious enough to figure out what’s going on. Until then, your symptoms will be considered psychosomatic. And that’s only if your illness is rare, not if it’s something that’s still undergoing research!

ID: “Psychosomatic until proven otherwise: Medical epistemology and whose knowledge matters” is superimposed in white text over a picture of a black blackboard.

my doctor: hmmm… it’s probably just anxiety

And you’re like…