Women and our Built-in Health Anxiety

Image Courtesy: Grey’s Anatomy

I cry at the doctor’s office. 

I can’t help it. Not because I have a fear of doctors, medicine, or offices, but because of what the doctor could potentially discover. 

My biggest fear is being told something is wrong with me. Even if I feel completely healthy and strong, there’s always a doubt that creeps into my mind.

As a woman, health anxiety is something I’ve struggled with for years. 

Knowing that most medical practices were made with men’s anatomy in mind, and not women’s, is a threatening thought. 

“For much of documented history, women have been excluded from medical and science knowledge production, so essentially we’ve ended up with a healthcare system, among other things in society, that has been made by men for men,” Dr Kate Young, a public health researcher at Monash University in Australia, told Gabrielle Jackson from The Guardian. 

Women are constantly turned away by doctors and are told that our problems come from stress or our menstrual cycles.

It’s frustrating, especially when we have to wait weeks for an available appointment, call off work or skip school, and pay just to be given vague medical advice in 10 minutes.

All the horror stories on the internet certainly don’t help.

There are many stories on social media platforms like TikTok or Instagram of women finding out they have something, even when doctors told them they were fine. 

TikTok user @annabean2323 has a video up with the caption: “No, I can’t take… another doctor telling me it’s just ‘my period’” and “what is being a woman about if all our problems aren’t blamed on our periods…”

Another TikTok user, @ashtonweatherford, has a video with the caption saying “Nothing pisses me off more than a doctor being like, ‘yeah, it’s probably just stress.’”

There are so many things to dwell on as women. Problems in our breasts and uterus are just the beginning. 

There are conditions like PCOS that affect individuals with ovaries. According to John Hopkins Medicine,  the many symptoms include weight gain, infertility, extra hair growth, acne, and more. Many women don’t get diagnosed with these types of conditions until later on in life, stating that they've been told it’s just the regular side effects of periods. 

TikTok user, @pcos.dietitian, states, “‘What’s your favorite horror movie?’ I don’t know, maybe having undiagnosed PCOS for two years and seeing three doctors who didn’t believe your symptoms.” 

Just like this woman, there are many others who have gone undiagnosed with many conditions. 

I have a theory that many women rely on one another more than on doctors. Especially with the rise of social media, you can search up your symptoms in seconds and find another woman going through the same thing. 

I know in my instance, I’ve felt calmer knowing that my friends have felt similar to me. It has become easier to make DIY serums, immunity boosters, and meals that help us as women, especially when they correlate to our cycles. 

I often wonder about the recipes passed down from woman to woman through generations, and how traditional medicine is still used today in many cultures, rarely needing to see a doctor.

It’s important not to lose that within our communities. To keep healing each other and giving our bodies what they require. 

Strike out,

Sol Moyano

Boca Raton

Sol Moyano is a content writer for Strike Magazine Boca. When she’s not busy writing, she’s ignoring all of her responsibilities in favor of reading fiction novels. She updates her Goodreads and Letterboxd way more often than her LinkedIn. You can reach her at solmoyano05@hotmail.com or her instagram: @solmoyanooo.