dr. sarah whitman, a psychiatrist who works with patients with croppic pain, and dr. joe wright, an internist at beth israel who did a lot of research on the early aids movement, so, "she has a 28-year-old woman living with crones disease. when she first began her diagnostic journey, she was a middle school student with stomach pains. she underwent a variety of tests from x-rays, hopeful each step brought her closer to the answer. when the test and consultations initiated her into the world of patienthood, they also signaled the start of an unfortunate, but all too common cycle. dealing with the dismiss sal of her persistent symptoms. she was told she had reflux disease, but when problems continued, so did the tension. as the years went on, the dismiss sal took on a problematic vent. as her physical symptoms were attributed to her emotional problems. at the time, my parents and i were told the symptoms were caused by stress. i heard this for years, right up until i was zigged with crones as an adult, and, in fact, i heard it suture that until last year, i was convince

dr. sarah whitman reminds us that this imbalance of power and skepticism has far-reaching roots. historically, when women have reported medical symptoms, these are taking as safely as women describe complaints. for example, she says, research has shown that when men and women both report cardiac symptoms, men received more thorough evaluations. and 48 with a cardiac disease, men receive more aggressive and definitive treatment. so a woman reporting pain may be more likely to be dismissed or have her symptoms downplayed. there are some medical illnesses that are unique to women. for example, certain pelvic pain disorders. these are significantly under researched, and it can be difficult to find physicians with appropriate training and clinical experience to treat them. the lack of training and clinical express perpetuates the cycle. if women are not diagnosed correctly because their physicians don't know what to look for, their symptoms worsen, which can have profound emotional effects as well. from there, it is not a huge leap to write the pain or symptoms on asp hysterical or ps