'Your symptoms are part of being a woman': UCC study to explore diagnostic delays for women

Women in Ireland wait years for diagnosis of chronic health conditions — we need to focus on listening

Women frequently report their symptoms being normalised, minimised or psychologised, in interactions with GPs and consultants. File photo

Despite growing awareness of gender inequality in healthcare, women in Ireland continue to face long and painful delays in getting diagnosed for chronic health conditions. Many continue to be told that their pain is ‘normal’ or part of being a woman, that their dizziness is just anxiety, or that nothing is physically wrong.

Across Ireland, women living with endometriosis, migraine, POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, a type of dysautonomia), premenstrual dysphoric disorder, and other poorly understood chronic health conditions consistently describe years of searching for diagnoses, a pattern widely reported across patient support groups, advocacy groups and online communities.