Pam Zuber discusses your comments on her previous article 'Does Our Gender Affect the Medical Treatment We Receive?'
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Ah, the bad old days, when women, non-binary individuals, non-white people, and children were to be seen and not heard – and sometimes not even seen. Those days are a thing of the past, right?
Yes and no. While some aspects of society are more inclusive than they once were and more voices are being heard, we still need to make progress in other areas. It appears that the field of health and wellness is one of those problematic areas. I recently investigated whether or not Western medicine fully recognizes women and non-binary individuals. And based on the comments from a Reddit re-postof the article, I’m not sure that it does.
According to your comments, medical professionals do treat men and women differently. Many of you stated that medical professionals were more concerned about your reproductive systems, even when you were visiting them for unrelated matters.
Do different genders experience different medical experiences?
Many women wondered if this would be the case if cis-men were the ones visiting their doctors. “Can we also talk about how every problem a person with ovaries and a vagina has is automatically accredited to their ovaries and vagina? … Do they ask people with penis to examine their penis when they come in for headaches?” asked Just-no96. Another commenter voiced similar opinions, stating that, “If I had a dime for every doctor who told me that all my troubles were from my vagina, my weight or my age…I would have at least 20 bucks.”
Yet, even when the problem is related to the ovaries, vagina, or uterus, women have had to deal with disheartening, even terrifying medical experiences. Another commenter, Kimberley, wrote that she experienced extremely heavy bleeding after a hysterectomy. Although she was hemorrhaging, hospital workers didn’t give her a room until her husband insisted on one. A male emergency room doctor refused to call her regular gynecologist. A nurse at the hospital eventually made this call and helped arrange emergency surgery.
She lost three units of blood, received surgery, and ultimately recovered, but experienced unnecessary suffering. “I still think back to how I was dismissed despite heavy bleeding after a major surgery, how they ignored my pleas but listened to my husband, and how it took an OB nurse standing up for me,” said Kimberley. “I probably would have lost a lot more blood in the night waiting for my doctor to see me in the morning, possibly even died. It was scary and unreal.”
Is treatment better now than it was in the past?
Why aren’t women’s complaints being heard? Such dismissals seem to relate to beliefs about women and their psychology. The Greek word for uterus, hystera, forms the root for hysterical. The ancient Greeks and others believe that the uterus could travel throughout women’s bodies and wreak psychological havoc.
In some ways, we’re not all that removed from such ancient Greek fears. Medical practitioners are still dismissing female patients as hysterical.
A high fever as well as “tachycardia [an extremely rapid heart rate], semi-consciousness, vomiting, dehydration and abdominal pain” prompted another commenter, CheesyChips, to seek emergency assistance. She recalled, “After some hours I finally saw a male doctor and he decided it was an anxiety attack. I went to my GP [general practitioner] the next day to be tested and I actually had a horrendous stomach infection. I was on liquid nutrition for months and my gut has never yet recovered.”
This incident didn’t take place in ancient Greece, where medical practitioners feared that the wandering wombs of women affected their minds. It occurred in the United Kingdom in the present day. Trans and non-binary people often encounter similar views. Medical practitioners often seem to believe that trans statuses are primary causes for people’s medical problems.
Another commenter, Diana, called this perspective trans broken arm syndromeand imagined this interaction between medical practitioners and patients: “[O]h, wow, you broke your arm. Well you should probably stop taking hormone treatments then. That must have been the main cause. Not, you know, falling down a 12-foot ravine.”
While part of this attitude may be discrimination, it may also be due to ignorance. Even doctors, people trained in anatomy who often have extensive educations in other areas, may not know a great deal about trans issues.
What do doctors say about treatment?
“A 2017 study showed that almost 100 percent of internal medicine residents thought that they needed to know about transgender medical issues. Less than half had received any education.” wrote Dr. Christine Nguyen. She said she didn’t know much about trans people herself when she began working with them as part of her pediatric practice.
Dr. Nguyen said it was difficult to find assistance: “When I asked colleagues for advice on standards of care for taking care of trans kids, I was often be told ‘someone else’ might know something. But finding that person wasn’t easy.”
And speaking of difficulty, while all medical problems obviously do not relate to a person’s gender status, these statuses do sometimes complicate already complex problems relating to physical and mental health. It’s important to acknowledge the entire person to provide the most accurate diagnoses and effective treatments.
For example, non-binary individuals might attend inpatient rehab centers to address their alcohol or drug abuse. While such centers often do a good job at medically detoxing alcohol and drugs from a person’s body, the best centers try to determine why people abuse drugs or alcohol in the first place in an effort to prevent future substance abuse.
For example, non-binary people may be troubled by how their status is seen by others. Other people may have discriminated against them or even abused them for being ‘different.’ Non-binary individuals may then turn to alcohol or drugs to become drunk or high as a mental release for the pain caused by such discrimination, or abuse. Effective addiction treatment tries to heal such mental pain while addressing the physical aspects of the addiction.
Many times, such centers use different forms of therapy or sobriety meetings to explore why people abuse substances. Therapy sessions and sobriety meetings encourage participants to speak and others to listen. If the comments earlier in this article are any indication, this might be a marked change from other encounters with the medical field. Therapy sessions and sobriety meetings can give participants a voice.
How can we find effective treatment?
While the words and actions of insensitive medical practitioners can hurt more than they help, listening can help. Genuine listening teaches people things. Education can help people receive proper treatment. Dr. Christine Nguyen admitted that she didn’t know about trans life, but she has learned. She’s sharing what she learned. Why can’t the majority of medical professionals do the same?
The internet holds a wealth of information. We can read comments, letters, articles, and other pieces that represent a range of human experiences. We can read and contribute to sites such as Fembot to gain new perspectives.
We can use this information to engage in conversations. We can then ask people questions, clarify matters, and share our opinions in a respectful manner. Yes, such conversations might be awkward at first, but exploring the unknown is often awkward. Remaining ignorant creates even more awkwardness. It also creates harm. Willful ignorance prevents people from obtaining much-needed physical and mental help. Without such help, the results can be catastrophic.
Education isn’t just a nice thing to have. It’s a vital tool. Education can mean the difference between life and death.
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