Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

Doing Harm: The Truth about How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick by Maya Dusenbery

4 reviews

_pauline's review against another edition

informative

5.0

according to my kindle i’ve highlighted 133 sections in this book & I think that speaks for itself but here are some additional thoughts in no particular order:

• I don’t think i’ve ever been this angry in my entire life
• honestly I thought I already was somewhat knowledgeable on this topic but if you, too, think you know how bad it is - it’s that, times ten
• this should be essential reading for every medical student
• so so many of the anecdotes lines up with my own experience (like having a literal ‘fibromyalgia specialist‘ tell me the condition doesn’t exist & then proceed to prescribe me antidepressants) - ofc I knew most women with poorly understood illnesses have had bad encounters with doctors but I thought certain things were more of an exception than they actually are (which makes me feel both sad/angry & understood)
• every time I‘m reminded how little time certain topics - e.g. nutrition, pain (wtf) or certain diseases - take up in med school, I wonder where doctors get their confidence when dismissing patients bc what did you really learn about it in those 1-4 hours you spent studying it (if at all)?
• it’s a little repetitive at times & not the easiest book to read but so worth it (try to read a physical copy, there’s an abbreviations page at the end)
• relatable anecdotes backed up by lots of scientific research + history for context
• loved the deep dive into certain chronic illnesses more prevalent in women & their history
• focus is on sexism but there are also sections on racism & other forms of discrimination 
• some cited studies were conducted in several countries but for the most part it’s a book about sexism & gender bias in the US healthcare system (which makes sense given how long & dense it already is - just important to note in case you’re expecting a more international view (though a lot of US based research impacted medicine around the world ofc so it’s still 100% worth reading))
• it’d be great to have an updated version of this, not sure if there is one

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Misogyny, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Cancer, Fatphobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, Vomit, and Pregnancy

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

beetree's review against another edition

challenging informative sad slow-paced

3.5

This is a really important book but I found it dry and repetitive, despite being passionate about this topic. It’s structure and formatting (very long chapters sometimes) didn’t work for me and because of the repetition, I sometimes lost the point of the chapters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism and Gaslighting

Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Medical trauma, Colonisation, and Classism

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

this is definitely a hard book, especially for someone like me who has autoimmune conditions. but in that way, it was informative and validating. i would definitely recommend this but it’s good to take into account that this is a depressing read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Transphobia, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

arayo's review against another edition

informative sad

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Misogyny, Sexism, and Medical content

Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, Fatphobia, Infertility, Racism, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Classism