Medical Gaslighting Is Real. So Is the Damage It Causes.

March 10, 2026

For people with ME/CFS, being disbelieved by the medical system is not an occasional frustration. It is a defining feature of the illness experience. Our latest video tackles medical gaslighting head-on: what it looks like and why it happens.

The examples are not hypothetical. People with ME/CFS are routinely told their symptoms are psychosomatic, that their tests look normal so they must be fine, that stress or attitude is the real problem. These are not isolated moments of poor bedside manner. They are patterns, and they cause real harm to people living with a severe physiological disease that medicine has too long refused to take seriously.

Awareness is where change begins, but it cannot stop there. What patients need is a medical culture that listens, professionals who are educated about diseases like ME/CFS, and federal investment in research that replaces assumptions with answers. Watch the video below.

GLOSSARY

CDC

The Center for Disease Control protects the United States’ health from threats using science and data

NIH

The National Institute of Health aims to discover new information that will result in better health for everyone

National Academies of Medicine

Previously called the Institute of Medicine, this nonprofit, private organization was created to advise the country on relevant issues

WHO

The World Health Organization works worldwide to promote health, promote safety, and serve the vulnerable

PACE

Short for “Pacing, graded Activity, and Cognitive behavioral therapy; a randomized Evaluation”

The Lancet

One of the world’s highest impact, most prestigious academic journals

FDA

The Food and Drug Administration protects American health by overseeing food, drugs, cosmetics, animal food, dietary supplements, medical devices, biological goods, and blood products