Women in the United Kingdom face noticeable challenges in accessing and receiving reproductive health care. The emotional impact of these challenges is seldom evaluated. Recent research and wider societal discourse suggest that many women experience ‘gaslighting’, a form of psychological manipulation where their health concerns are not taken seriously, leading to feelings of dismissal and resulting in withdrawal from mainstream healthcare services. This can culminate in delayed diagnoses and poorer health outcomes. A qualitative systematic review of the literature investigating gaslighting and dismissal in women’s reproductive health in the UK, with a focus on how these experiences differ across intersecting identities such as ethnicity, sexuality, and socioeconomic status. Search of qualitative literature across key databases including PubMed, PsycInfo, CINAHL plus, Web of Science, Medline, Scopus, Embase, Science Direct, and HMIC retrieving 25,258 papers. The review identified no papers explicitly addressing gaslighting in women’s reproductive health in the UK. However, seven related studies were found containing relevant themes (e.g. dismissal), providing a basis for the review. A thematic summary based on the extracted data resulted in the development of four themes 1) dismissal of symptoms and needs (patients experiences, systemic issues), 2) marginalised experiences (ethnic minority women, LGBTQ+ people), 3) stigma and fear of judgement, and 4) poor communication and limited autonomy. The review highlights the need for more targeted research in this area as the scarcity of literature underscores the importance of exploring the emotional impact and framing of dismissal as gaslighting by women in reproductive healthcare. Better conceptualisation and understanding could inform practice and policy changes aimed at validating women’s experiences and improving equity in reproductive healthcare access and outcomes.
Kokab et al. (Wed,) studied this question.