The girl who cried wolf: the “fake” pain syndrome

Research suggests that if my boyfriend and I were to walk into a hospital with the same agonizing mystery condition, his pain would be taken much more seriously than mine. In fact, 36% of women feel like their pain is ignored, dismissed or just not taken seriously by healthcare professionals. Now, I’m not saying that all doctors or nurses ignore women’s pain, and I’m certainly not suggesting that those who do, do so on purpose. But, there is a growing body of research that indicates that some women are not given the medical attention that they need because of gender bias. For example, an American study found that in comparison to men, women are considerably less likely to have their pain taken seriously, and medical professionals are more likely to hold back on treatment for women until after objective evidence into the cause of pain has been found.

And this isn’t a problem that just exists across the pond: a recent study on endometriosis carried out by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Women’s Health uncovered a shocking set of statistics. Although endometriosis has life-changing symptoms, such as debilitating pain, 40% were only referred to a gynaecologist after seeing their doctor at least 10 times and 42% said that their doctors had shown them no dignity or respect throughout the course of their diagnosis. Despite affecting nearly 2 million women in the UK and leaving suffers at risk of severe health problems, such as reduced fertility rates and increased likelihood of depression, endometriosis has publicly been labelled a “garbage bag disorder” by Doctor Drew. And it’s not just celebrity doctors who don’t take endometriosis seriously: women of all backgrounds and ages recall being told that it’s all in their head, that they’re a hypochondriac, that they just need to toughen up, that they’re being over-emotional, that that’s just how a women’s body works.

And endometriosis isn’t the only big story relating to women’s pain to hit the headlines. There are plenty of articles on the fatal effect that ignoring women’s pain can have, and there are entire threads dedicated to sharing the horrific experiences women have had when seeking medical attention. In fact, a study conducted by the National Pain Report a few years ago found that a staggering 90% of female patients who suffer from chronic pain feel like the overall health system generally discriminates against them.

So why is women’s pain not taken as seriously as men’s? Well, one theory is that we simply haven’t come as far as we like to think we have when it comes to women’s rights issues. I remember reading classics such as the Bell Jar and The Yellow Wallpaper at school, and being shocked at how women with obvious mental health issues were treated. Academics are arguing that the modern-day perception of women’s pain is deep-rooted in the sort of healthcare bias that was so prevalent pre-1970. Although feminists in the 70’s dispelled the myth that ‘crazy women should live in mental asylums’, somewhere, in the back of our minds, we are still associating women’s pain with ‘hysteria’, irrationality and neurotic tendencies.

Another reason given is the stereotypical assumption that women are generally more emotional and more likely to cry than a man when something hurts, or just the belief that a woman’s pain threshold is lower than a man’s (we just need to watch One Born Every Minute to know that a woman’s pain threshold is sky high…).

Whatever the reason why, one thing is clear: we must, as both a society and a healthcare service, start talking about this. We must debate it, we can’t ignore the statistics, and we must do whatever we can do uncover the reasons why women’s pain is thought of as it is. Because if we don’t, women will never receive true healthcare equality, and will suffer unnecessarily.