You’d think that all medical professionals have your best interests at heart and want to accurately diagnose you. While the world is full of talented, empathetic, and knowledgeable doctors, nurses, surgeons, and specialists, far from everyone is like that. It would be naive to think so. Unfortunately, there are some truly rotten apples in the bunch.
Medical gaslighting is what happens when your doctor dismisses your health concerns. And it’s a serious issue with real-life consequences. The Young Lung Cancer Initiative, a non-profit that empowers young adults in the fight against cancer, recently went viral on Facebook. It asked patients to share their real diagnoses, even though their doctors didn't take them seriously. These professionals attributed symptoms to anxiety, stress, or mental health.
Scroll down for these real-life stories. It’s a reminder to trust your gut and if something feels off, always get a second (or third!) opinion.
Bored Panda reached out to the team at the Young Lung Cancer Initiative, and they were kind enough to answer our questions. You'll find our interview with them below.
Image credits: Young Lung Cancer Initiative
#21
My friend had anaphylactic shock episode and the paramedics tried to tell her it was a panic attack - she nearly died
24points
#22
The rarest form of Lung Fibrosis...
Doctors in the ICU scolded me, called me a lot of bad things and said it was anxiety, I was faking it and so on.
And last Monday morning paramedics didn't believe that I fell unconscious and had bad convulsions on my kitchen floor even though I bit my tongue and everything... Went to the hospital later and it turned out I DID have convulsions AND I actually also broke my back, sprained my tailbone and pressed at least 8 ribs from the fall.
So yeah.
Doctors in the ICU scolded me, called me a lot of bad things and said it was anxiety, I was faking it and so on.
And last Monday morning paramedics didn't believe that I fell unconscious and had bad convulsions on my kitchen floor even though I bit my tongue and everything... Went to the hospital later and it turned out I DID have convulsions AND I actually also broke my back, sprained my tailbone and pressed at least 8 ribs from the fall.
So yeah.
24points
#23
Multiple Sclerosis-my original presentation was “just an anxiety attack.”
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23points
#24
I gotta lose weight to fix.... extra spinal fluid on my brain. Im sure that'll work.
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23points
#25
Pulmonary Hypertension & COPD at 23 (yay me!!) Turns out I wasn't just fat & lazy.
22points
#26
My daughter: Dr said “POTS, Anxiety, Food allergies, In your head” Actually “Type 1 Diabetic”.
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21points
#27
SVT after being told it was just anxiety and even once after fainting in HS being told "well you know, 16 year old girls 'swoon' all the time."
21points
#28
Lupus, but it really was me being too stressed and not sleeping enough.
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21points
#29
My husband had 5 doctors say ‘well everything is coming back normal, so it must be anxiety’. We refused to accept that as his diagnosis and found out it was mold toxicity. In an instant, mold changed everything in our lives… never saw that on the bingo card for 2025.
20points
#30
Breast Cancer...the shortness of breath and chest pain, just anxiety...oooookay!
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20points
#31
Chiari malformation, said it was just hormonal headaches. No sir my brain is shoving out of my skull!
20points
#32
My mother, after her ‘initial anxiety’ diagnosis. Brain tumour, 9th documented person in the world to have this particular tumour in that spot in her brain. But hey ‘good news it’s not dementia.’
20points
#33
My first son…3 years old…”Constipation, give him MiraLAX.”
Took him to ER that night…Complete Intestinal Malrotation with obstruction. Two big surgeries later and he’s nearly 12.
Took him to ER that night…Complete Intestinal Malrotation with obstruction. Two big surgeries later and he’s nearly 12.
19points
#34
I ended up with sepsis- went to the ED & the doctor barely looked at me and I was coughing up literal chunks of blood & had a super high fever. He sent me home, within hours I was nearly unresponsive & my mom begged the ER doctor to run more tests but they refused just saying I was being anxious & dramatic.
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19points
#35
Graves' disease.
A regular customer of mine told me while serving him martinis.
Took one look at me and knew.
He saved me.
Nina Aleeah Prince replied:
its insane that its almost never doctors that figure it out. My most serious issues were figured out by friends or myself. I just asked the right doctors for the right tests, or showed them tests they've already done and missed to get a diagnosis.
A regular customer of mine told me while serving him martinis.
Took one look at me and knew.
He saved me.
Nina Aleeah Prince replied:
its insane that its almost never doctors that figure it out. My most serious issues were figured out by friends or myself. I just asked the right doctors for the right tests, or showed them tests they've already done and missed to get a diagnosis.
Report
18points
#36
Ambulance crew said "you're just having an anxiety attack." Er Dr diagnosed it as a stroke. Quite a bit different really.
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18points
#37
Pulmonary embolisms, lung cancer. Because apparently if you're 30 those things don't happen...
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18points
#38
3 years to get a dx for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Given enough Ativan to choke a horse. That was 25 years ago.
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17points
#39
Secondary bacterial pneumonia with an SpO2 of 88 but I just needed “to calm down and breathe.”
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17points
#40
Diagnosed with Complex regional Pain Syndrome after I was told I’m “just dehydrated and need to suck it up.”
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17points