When it comes to neurodiversity, the U.S. healthcare system suffers from many of the same problems as employment: specifically, ableism, lack of reasonable accommodations, misconceptions, and limited understanding of neurodiversity. One of the most crucial steps in improving healthcare is to destigmatize neurodiversity through training, enhancing doctors’ and healthcare providers’ awareness of the actual needs of patients who are neurodivergent. Unfortunately, many medical professionals are still working based on false or outdated assumptions about neurodivergence. The end result is “medical gaslighting”, or dismissing, trivializing, or invalidating the concerns and needs of patients who are neurodivergent.

“I knew early on that my brain functioned differently than the status quo,” Susie B. Cross, an expert on mental health, writes. “After years of dilly-dallying, I got off my unmotivated rump to find out why. I made an appointment with a psychiatrist – and then hoped to god that I did not forget to go.” Despite exhibiting clear symptoms of ADHD, Cross writes, her doctor insisted she could not have it due to her strong academic performance when she had been in school. This close-mindedness, Cross adds, was unfortunately not uncommon. Numerous doctors implied that she was simply pretending to be “scatter-brained” in order to be prescribed medication; that she could become addicted to stimulants; or that all she needed was a planner, rather than medication. After a decade of dealing with this treatment, Cross finally managed to get the ADHD diagnosis she needed. Despite her frustrating experience, she doesn’t place the blame solely on her doctors. Instead, she emphasizes healthy skepticism, rather than blindly following “doctor’s orders” in every situation. “My advice is simple,” Cross writes. “Don’t be a passive receptacle who too readily accepts take-two-aspirin-and-call-me-in-the-morning remedies. Be a skeptic and be ready to spar. After all, you know yourself better than anybody – even the experts.” While Wiles makes a valid point about not blindly trusting authority, including when it comes to physical/mental health, that doesn’t exempt medical practitioners from the need to be more knowledgeable about neurodiversity, rather than defaulting to harmful myths and stereotypes. More adequately meeting physical and psychological health needs can also greatly improve employment and job stability for people who are neurodivergent. Addressing healthcare needs reduces stress and anxiety, which in turn enhances productivity and retention rates. Improved healthcare, such as occupational therapy, can also help neurodivergent individuals identify the right workplace accommodations they need, which boosts productivity as well.  

Communication barriers are also a significant problem in neurodivergent healthcare. In their essay, “The Double Empathy Problem in Medicine: Autism, Communication, and Inclusive Care”, Claire Eliza Sehinson, MS, and Dr. Megan Anna Neff explore the communication challenges and misunderstandings that can take place between people of different neurotypes (i.e., those whose minds work very differently from each other). This is the “Double Empathy” problem referred to in the title. “The addition of healthcare professionals into the conversation adds another layer to the communication or language “barrier”,” Neff and Sehinson write. “When we train to be doctors, therapists and healthcare providers, we understand the difference between “medical terminology” and layman’s terms. We are explicitly taught to communicate medical interventions in layman’s terms to neurotypical patients, but not to neurodivergent people with communication differences.” They also refer to the “triple empathy problem”, which notes that misunderstandings between doctors and neurodivergent patients can also stem from confusing medical jargon and aspects of medical culture. Although Neff and Sehinson’s essay focuses on individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the communication challenges they describe can apply to other forms of neurodiversity as well. They encourage medical providers to allow for longer appointment times, offer alternative communication options (i.e. written forms, visual aids, and communication apps, etc.), and offer sensory-friendly waiting areas and exam rooms.

Other experts and advocates have also shared their perspectives on how to prevent medical gaslighting and why it can be extremely damaging and harmful. The truth is that medical gaslighting is more than just an annoyance: in many cases, it can actually be life-threatening. “Medical gaslighting is a very real phenomenon,” Dr. Carolyn Larkin Taylor writes. “And it is not restricted to male authority figures, as women physicians are guilty as well.” In her essay, “How Medical Gaslighting Almost Cost Me My Life”, Larkin describes her harrowing experience being mistakenly diagnosed with a benign polyp that ultimately turned out to be endometrial (uterine) cancer. As Larkin explains, the polyp had reached the cancer stage due to her GYN refusing to do a second biopsy, dismissing Larkin’s concerns as stress-related. Thankfully, after getting a second opinion, Larkin was able to have surgery before the cancer had metastasized, thus saving her life. While Larkin’s case was physical, rather than related to neurodivergence, it still reflects a mindset within the healthcare system that urgently needs to be changed. “It can be as subtle as a smirk, a raised eyebrow, a sigh of impatience, as if to imply that the patient’s genuine suffering is an exaggeration,” Larkin writes in regard to medical gaslighting. “The doctor’s words, once meant to heal and soothe, become sharp instruments, cutting away at the patient’s confidence and sense of reality.”

To stop medical gaslighting, doctors need to practice actively listening to their patients and validating their experiences, explaining clinical reasoning in a more transparent way, and advocating for better staffing and reduced burnout, along with involving neurodivergent patients in decision-making that impacts their health and well-being. “In medicine, I’d love to see accommodations and empathy become the norm,” Dr. Ruta Clair, an associate professor at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM), says. “Building strong doctor-patient relationships where people feel emotionally safe and seen leads to better communication and outcomes,” she adds, “and even small gestures, like remembering a detail from a patient’s life, can go a long way. Inclusion starts with recognizing that everyone brings something valuable to the table.” A more streamlined, accessible, and inclusive healthcare system, without endless waiting lists, gaslighting, and red tape, is both essential and achievable. It depends on training providers to understand neurodiversity and accommodations, utilizing Telehealth and assistive technology, allowing for longer appointments, and working with the disabilities/neurodivergent community to gather their input and develop real, lasting solutions.

Sources

Mirel, D. (2025). “Championing and redefining care for neurodivergent patients”, AMA NewsWire, American Medical Association. https://www.ama-assn.org/public-health/population-health/championing-and-redefining-care-neurodivergent-patients

Neff, M. & Sehinson, C. (2024). “The Double Empathy Problem in Medicine: Autism, Communication, and Inclusive Care”, Neurodivergent Insights. https://neurodivergentinsights.com/the-double-empathy-problem-in-medicine/?srsltid=AfmBOopgwrS9JdeAyXcejDplo0xp4edYSUQ1HN201f6iT6pBrMW3aB_0

Clair, R. (2025). “What is Neurodiversity? Understanding the Spectrum of Cognitive Ability”, PCOM News, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. https://www.pcom.edu/campuses/philadelphia-campus/news-and-events/pcom-news/neurodiversity-understanding-the-spectrum-of-cognitive-ability.html

Taylor, C. (2025). “How medical gaslighting almost cost me my life”, Whispers of the Mind: A Neurologist’s Memoir. https://kevinmd.com/2025/09/how-medical-gaslighting-almost-cost-me-my-life.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Cross, S. (2025). “Medical Gaslighting Convinced Me That I Didn’t Have ADHD”, ADDitude Magazine. https://www.additudemag.com/medical-gaslighting-convinced-me-no-adhd/