Question
What are microaggressions?
Answer
Another thing that I've heard and seen on the medical team is what I would call microaggressions. Microaggressions are indirect, subtle, or unintentional discrimination against members of a group. For instance, someone said to me, "Wow, you speak really well for a person with hearing loss." I've heard people say things like, "I can't believe that you have a cardiac diagnosis, I never would have guessed." Or, "It never seems like you struggle that much with these things." Sometimes there are these small little digs that happen and people don't even realize they're doing it. I've heard a microaggression described as "a raindrop that doesn't know it is part of a typhoon".
As providers, we may not realize the broader context around these comments we make about patients in front of them or towards them. They can have a negative impact despite our positive intentions. Microaggressions can contribute to the experience of chronic race-based stress in Black and Indigenous People of Color. Be mindful of them because they exist and they're happening - it's not a matter of if, it is how and when.
This Ask the Expert is an edited excerpt from the course, Therapeutic Strategies for Counseling Complex Patients within a Pediatric Critical Care Setting, presented by Michael Hoffman, PhD.
