Aston sought medical help after her symptoms—which included severe migraines, abdominal pain, joint dislocations, easy bruising, iron deficiency, fainting, tachycardia, and multiple injuries—began in 2015, per the New Zealand Herald. She was referred to Auckland Hospital, where a doctor accused her of causing her own illness. Because of his accusations, Aston was placed on psychiatric watch.
Research suggests women are often much more likely to be misdiagnosed than men. A 2009 study of patients with heart disease symptoms found 31.3 per cent of middle-aged women “received a mental health condition as the most certain diagnosis”, compared to just 15.6 per cent of their male counterparts. Additionally, a 2020 study found that as many as 75.2 per cent of patients with endometriosis—a painful disorder that affects the tissue of the uterus—had been misdiagnosed after they started experiencing endometriosis symptoms. Among those women, nearly 50 per cent were told they had a “mental health problem”.
Depends. Lots of shit doctors out there who don’t care avout their patient. I’ve seen guys go to a doctor with a problem, only to be barely checked, if at all, and sent home with an unhelpful prescription or advice.
Plus gender-epecific conditions are poorly taught in med school, or to the wider public in general. Most members of the opposite sex rarely know about conditions affecting the other, or even their own. As a guy, I’ve learned about Endomitriosis because of youtube. But also I’ve learned that men have much worse symptoms with viruses than women, from a TV show.
Thankfully there are many doctors who take their job very seriously, but it seems they are hard to come by, especially in the US.