As part of our Mental Health Awareness Month programming, we’re sharing this video presentation on “Coping with Medical Gaslighting on your Path to a Spinal CSF Leak Diagnosis” by Dr. Melissa Geraghty, a clinical psychologist who also happens to be a former spinal CSF leak patient.
The journey to a spinal CSF leak diagnosis can be fraught. Not only because of the physical symptoms, but because of how often we encounter clinicians who aren’t familiar with the diagnosis. Many patients with spinal CSF leak have been told they are depressed or malingering. Often, patients have been misdiagnosed as suffering from migraine, or a sinus infection, or other infection. Many have been dismissed without further investigation into the underlying causes of their symptoms. Dr. Geraghty discusses this experience, and shares concepts patients can use to both cope with medical gaslighting and respond to it.