Gaslighting by proxy

When visuals can’t overcome medical bias

Gaslight (verb): to manipulate (someone) by psychological means into questioning their own sanity

I recently took on a health history visualization client, a friend of a friend, through my startup Pictal Health. I’d been on hiatus from this kind of 1-on-1 work, but this case was interesting. The patient was struggling with muscle weakness and a host of other unsolved symptoms, and she was having a hard time getting taken seriously because of her past mental health history. She also suspected that she might have the same autoimmune condition I’ve been dealing with for 30 years. I was intrigued, so I agreed to do it.

As I started working with Sarah (not her real name, of course) I was struck immediately by things she said and did. She constantly propped up her head: by putting her elbow on the table and resting her chin on her fist, by leaning back in a chair with a headrest, or even by lying down on the couch. She said her neck wasn’t strong enough to hold up her head for very long.

Sarah talked about having extreme muscle weakness that was worse with exertion and better with rest; better in the morning and worse as the day went on. She had frequent trouble going up stairs, eating hot meals, chewing, swallowing, talking, and even breathing, at times. Her eyelid…