I've been medically gaslit and still am. It is, indeed, a form of medical trauma.

There are different forms of medical trauma that rarely get discussed. The heterogeneity of trauma is such that trauma is very diverse, so its etiology (origin) will differ, as well as the responses and sequelae to specific trauma types will differ. Avoidance may be an overall symptom, but avoidance from what? For someone who struggles with medical traumas, avoidance of hospitals or certain treatments might be the response.

Here are some different forms of medical trauma:

1. Medical gaslighting

2. Physiological injuries after experiencing violence-based trauma such as school bullying, school shooting, neighborhood violence, childhood sexual abuse, childhood physical abuse, shaken baby syndrome, being born with birth defects and having to live with those defects because of neonatal abuse by the mother, combat-based injuries as either a military employee or as a civilian living in a warzone, terrorism victimization, hate crime victimization, etc.

3. Psychological gaslighting (and thus being misdiagnosed and/or mistreated in psychotherapy settings - either with professional licensed therapists or, as a double whammy with spiritual/religious/ritual trauma, from a pastoral counselor and the like)

4. Pregnancy trauma (most often experienced by African American/Black women in the United States, according to a recent study that was on a webinar in the past from APA's Trauma Division)

5. Experiencing iatrogenic effects from either a medical professional or a psychological professional (or both); this most often occurs when you've been mistreated due to being misdiagnosed, which are forms of medical gaslighting consequences, or when you are properly diagnosed but the treatment negated to see potential interactions with comorbidities and/or other things like medications, or when the treatments are correct for the correct diagnosis but their side effects are painful and crippling

6. Experiencing medical malpractice or psychological malpractice

7. ICU traumas

8. Other medical traumas not specified above

Each of the traumas will create different reactions in individuals with different histories.

This is why pandemics bring about worsening conditions for some people who have experienced medical traumas in the past - in particular for those individuals who wish not to experience any more medical traumas in the future - especially during a pandemic when resources are scarce, which means risk for medical traumas listed above increase dramatically!

For persons of color, they may be discriminated against, which is hard to prove but nonetheless a form of unsubstantiated victimization in the medical malpractice realm. Some have even died prematurely as a result of medical discrimination and negligence/malpractice.

For impoverished persons of any race or ethnic background, they are at a disadvantage because they often lack healthcare insurance, a healthcare provider, the means to be able to afford the copayments on preventative care and other forms of medical and/or psychological treatments, and the means to be able to find a local provider - which includes trouble with transportation to and from medical facilities.

For persons with mental illnesses, our experiences with the medical community often include medical gaslighting and forms of medical discrimination. Our symptoms are often overlooked, and therefore we are misdiagnosed, under-diagnosed, or not diagnosed at all and therefore mistreated. As our symptoms worsen - some to the point of having preventable amputations, long-term physiological illnesses, preventable cancer, and/or preventable premature death, our institutional betrayal trauma to medical traumas also worsen.