Our research [1] provides the first empirical statement of the scale of medical gaslighting and diagnostic overshadowing in the health care experiences of people with GAD in the UK. More positively, it also reveals high GP and patient awareness of these issues, as well as a desire to address them. But we did not only wish to gauge the level of awareness. We also wanted to surface the demand for innovation of new tools and resources. Our research does so. GPs are clearly expressing a wish to improve their assessment, decision-making and treatment skills for physical health conditions when reported by people with GAD. They seek guidelines and diagnostic aids to better know and incorporate the history, circumstances and self-reporting capabilities of GAD patients when making clinical judgements. Encouragingly, they are also aware of how their own conscious or unconscious biases might inform their approaches and decision-making when interacting with GAD patients.
Having similar positive intent, people with GAD are seeking resources to support them too. Pre-appointment aids, physical symptom records, journals and conversation tools would help improve their outcomes in consultations with HCPs, especially GPs. Given the expressed need of both parties for new interactional and diagnostic tools and technologies, the conditions for innovation and their adoption would seem favourable. With concerted effort, it should then be possible to find novel ways to detect physical health conditions at the right time, avoid iatrogenic harm, and improve the health care experiences and outcomes for people living with GAD.
Finally, we express three hopes from our research. We hope it raises awareness of the unique challenges faced by people with GAD in their healthcare encounters. We hope it motivates additional research to further understand the causes, forms and consequences of medical gaslighting and diagnostic overshadowing in this patient group. Finally, we hope it drives real impetus for innovation and change in clinical thought and practice when HCPs engage with people living with GAD and other anxiety disorders.