Due Diligence

In order to avoid gaslighting patients, doctors and other healthcare practitioners can simply stick to using the scientific method to draw conclusions rather than relying on their assumptions, which may be based on unconscious biases and prejudices. Most doctors and healthcare practitioners have an extremely busy schedule, so it’s all too easy for them to jump to conclusions in order to get onto the next patient. This is a very dangerous habit, however, and steps must be taken to ensure due diligence with every single patient under a doctor’s care. Every single patient is a precious life and should be treated with the utmost care.

Solution: Use the Scientific Method

The Scientific method is a process to investigate, verify, or construct an accurate and reliable version of any phenomena. They are done by creating an objective framework for the purpose of scientific inquiry and analyzing the results scientifically to come to a conclusion that either supports or contradicts the initial assumption.

QUESTION > COLLECT DATA > TEST HYPOTHESIS > CONCLUSION

How most doctors currently come to conclusions:

QUESTION > MAKE ASSUMPTIONS WITH NO EVIDENCE > CONCLUSION

We assert that doctors, healthcare practitioners, and health institutions adhere to the following two principles without any tolerance for anything less:

1. Use the Scientific Method to come to conclusions when evaluating patients.

2. Never abuse patients, including psychological abuse such as medical gaslighting.

Example #1

STEP 1: Question: Is my patient imagining their symptoms?

STEP 2: Collect Data:

• Take a thorough medical history of the patient. Do they have any previous history of delusional episodes or other related psychiatric conditions?

• Ask the patient to describe the onset and progression of the symptoms.

• Make objective observations.

• Order relevant diagnostic tests and if they are inconclusive or normal, research what tests may be more relevant, even tests that aren’t standardly done.

• Consider seeking input from other medical specialists

• Encourage open communication and active listening to understand what the patient is conveying – patient input is valuable for a holistic understanding. Allow the patient to submit a report or timeline in writing, if they choose to, and actually read it to understand it thoroughly.

STEP 3: Test Hypothesis: Before coming to the conclusion that a patient is delusional, test that hypothesis. Are there other areas of their life where they are experiencing delusions? The primary and most prominent feature of Delusional Disorder is the presence of delusions that involve themes such as persecution, grandiosity, jealousy, and erotomania (believing someone else is in love with them), so if a patient is delusional about their symptoms, they are likely to be experiencing these kinds of themes, as well.

Consider that Delusional Disorder is estimated to affect only 1 - 3 people out of every 100,000, so there’s only a 0.05 - 0.1% chance that your patient is delusional. If you are assuming that more than 1 - 3 of your patients out of every 100,000 you see are delusional, then it’s more likely that you are the problem, rather than them.

STEP 4: Conclusion: Do you have enough evidence to show that your patient is delusional and only imagining their symptoms? If you do have enough evidence to show that your patient is delusional, then act accordingly. If not, you should do everything you can to help them and figure out what is really going on with them. New discoveries are always being made and you may need to educate yourself further about what could possibly be going on with them if something is not completely apparent.

Example #2

STEP 1: Question: Does my patient actually have an anxiety disorder?

STEP 2: Collect Data: Determining whether or not a patient has an anxiety disorder entails the following:

• Review the patient’s medical history.

• Inquire about the patient’s psychiatric history.

• Ask about the patient’s family history.

• Explore traumas experienced in childhood that could have trained the patient’s brain to become anxious for illogical reasons, such as just feeling excited or happy. All humans experience anxiety when warranted, but an anxiety disorder is an experience of anxiety when it’s not warranted.

• Inquire about any physical symptoms such as palpitations, sweating, trembling, or gastrointestinal distress associated with anxiety disorders.

• Evaluate sleep patterns.

• Assess the patient’s cognitive functioning, including their ability to concentrate and make decisions.

• Inquire about the patient’s use of alcohol, drugs, or other harmful substances.

• Observe the patient’s behavior and body language during an evaluation for anxiety disorder, watching for restlessness, fidgeting, avoidance of eye contact, or other physical signs.

• Implement standardized anxiety assessment tools or questionaires to gather more objective data about the patient’s mental state.

• Establish open communication and a supportive rapport with the patient. Sometimes, individuals may not recognize or express their anxiety until they feel comfortable discussing their feelings.

STEP 3: Test Hypothesis: Before coming to the conclusion that a patient has an anxiety disorder, test that hypothesis. Evaluate the data you have collected. A patient simply reporting Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, for example, does NOT indicate an anxiety disorder, for example. MCS is very real and disabling. You should never jump to the conclusion of anxiety disorder just because it’s easier to do so or because you’ve come across something you haven’t taken the time to understand yet. Collect and properly evaluate all the data listed above before making you conclusion.

An estimated 3.6% of the world population have an anxiety disorder, so that will be about 3 - 4 people out of every 100 patients you see, and most people with anxiety disorders are very aware that they get anxious too often and for reasons that do not warrant it. I

STEP 4: Conclusion: Do you have enough evidence to show that your patient has an anxiety disorder? If you do have enough evidence to show that your patient has an anxiety disorder, then act accordingly. If not, you should do everything you can to help them and figure out what is really going on with them rather than just dismissing all of their symptoms as “anxiety.” New discoveries are always being made and you may need to educate yourself further about what could possibly be going on with them if something is not completely apparent.