The details of the Lindsay Clancy case are triggering for many women.

Women have a long history of having their health and mental health concerns dismissed or misinterpreted.

Good healthcare requires curiosity when symptoms do not fit an obvious explanation.

Like many mental health clinicians, I have many clients and colleagues who are following the Lindsay Clancy case closely. But I have also found that many of us are reacting to the case in a more personal way.

Like many women, I recognize the painful experience of feeling dismissed when you know something isn't right, and the fear that comes with wondering whether anyone is truly listening. I understand the experience of telling a healthcare professional that something is wrong, not feeling heard, and wondering whether anyone will take you seriously.

The case is horrifying. It is heartbreaking. And it has understandably generated intense debate about postpartum mental illness, maternal mental healthcare, responsibility, and the criminal justice system. But there is another reason I think this case is particularly triggering for many of us. It touches something many women already know intimately: the feeling of asking for help and being unable to find it.

Women have a long history of having concerns dismissed

Many of us have sat in a doctor's office describing pain that doesn't make sense, describing exhaustion that doesn't feel like "just being tired," and thinking something isn't right. Many of us have reported changes in our bodies, frightening thoughts, neurological symptoms, severe pain, hormonal changes, or symptoms that seem impossible to explain. And many of us have been dismissed.

Research has documented gender disparities in medical care, including differences in how women's symptoms are interpreted, investigated, and treated1-4. Women........

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