Did you know that once upon a time, if a woman exhibited any emotional distress, they would remove her “hysteria” by performing a “hysterectomy”? (Hence the term we still use for this procedure of removing the reproductive organs.) But, back in the day, this was understood to be a treatment for a wild assortment of mental illnesses. In the not so distant past, “hysteria” was even thought to come from women having too little sex with men, or reading too much for education, or riding bikes too often!
Did you realize that a woman’s heart attack symptoms are different from a man’s, but this was only recently discussed in public health forums, because much of Western medical knowledge is based on examinations of men’s bodies? And it was just assumed women were the same, simply with breasts. (This differentiation didn’t become widely publicized until 2004!)
Even in current day medicine, women seeking pain management treatment are often deemed “crazy,” or “dramatic,” and given lesser care and medication. (The level of care provided being another step lower if you are a woman of color.)
Chronically, historically, and still today, women’s health is minimized by Western medicine, and women’s individual health concerns are downplayed or dismissed.
The book “All in Her Head” by Dr Elizabeth Comen does an excellent (and at times satirical) review of this medical history, of women being overlooked by the medical community.
What happened, and continues to occur, is that women then end up misdiagnosed. They are often sent to see the “shrink” (me), instead of the specialist physician they need. I end up doing a lot of work as a Health Psychologist around educating patients on the boundary between what is physical and what is “in your head.” And then aiding women in finding the language or paths to advocate for themselves, to be seen and heard for their specific, individual experience.
Now this doesn’t discount the fact that many of the symptoms and ailments we all experience can have both mental and physical contributing factors. One of the big things I teach patients is that physical pain has a huge psychological component – but that doesn’t mean that therapy alone can fix something that may require medication or surgery as well.
The other tricky part is that women’s health symptoms are often discounted as simply “hormonal,” as a blow off diagnosis. When, in fact, hormones are a frequently overlooked factor in women’s mental and physical well-being. (Again, we need to avoid treating a woman’s health as entirely parallel to a man’s). But now I see a backlash of women not wanting to be labeled by their menstrual cycles, and then ignoring a huge biological shift they live monthly.
Furthermore, we as a medical establishment also miss the non-individual factors that can affect a woman’s heath as well. I educate many new moms that postpartum depression is a real issue, not to be ignored. But that a good night’s sleep, with help from family, along with less anxious fixation on solely breastfeeding…leads to significant shifts in mood states. New moms need help and community, and less pressure. Instead, going right to a diagnosis of PPD and medication is often where the medical community leans.
And I could go on and on. I highly recommend this book, and more self-education on the gaps in healthcare for women. More fighting against the “pink tax” – did you realize your “lady razors” cost more than same style men’s razors? More access to women’s health care – this is the first year we have seen a non-prescription oral contraceptive hit the market. And, more awareness that much of what you are living IS in your head, and your body, and your society, and your culture, and your habits. It’s dismissive to say it’s all in her head, and it’s ignorant to think that none of it is. You deserve to be honored in your complexity and have all avenues treated with equal dignity and attention.
So, to address the question at the title of this blog – yes and no? Yes, women’s health is different and should be treated as distinct from men’s health or a general sense of the human condition. But, no, we shouldn’t treat women differently, if differently means treatment with less care and effort. Different but equal could or should be the goal, maybe? But, something better than what has been offered up until now.
