Medical Gaslighting in Gastroenterology: A Narrative Review from Pediatric and Adult Practice (Gastro Hep Advances)

Medical gaslighting, defined as the dismissal or minimization of patient-reported symptoms in the absence of adequate justification, has emerged as a relevant yet insufficiently examined phenomenon in gastroenterology. Patients with gastrointestinal disorders are particularly vulnerable due to the prevalence of conditions that rely on subjective symptom reporting, evolving diagnostic criteria, and limited availability of definitive biomarkers, especially among functional gastrointestinal disorders and disorders of gut-brain interaction as defined by the Rome IV criteria.