medicalization

Medicalization is the process by which non-medical problems or conditions come to be defined, understood, and treated as medical issues. It involves the expansion of medical jurisdiction, the use of medical language and categories, and the incorporation of medical interventions, often under the influence of professionals, institutions, and economic incentives. The concept highlights how social, cultural, and political forces shape what is considered a health problem and appropriate treatment.

Key mechanisms of medicalization include professional authority and boundary work, changes in diagnostic criteria and screening technologies, pharmaceutical marketing and reimbursement structures, and evolving cultural expectations about health and normality. As a result, behaviors, emotions, and life processes—such as aging, childbirth, fertility, obesity, attention problems, or mood fluctuations—may be redefined as medical conditions requiring diagnosis and intervention.

Proponents argue that medicalization can reduce suffering by legitimizing distress, expanding access to care, and improving safety through evidence-based treatments. Critics contend that it pathologizes normal variation, individualizes social problems, promotes overtreatment and dependence on professionals, and can reinforce social control or stigma. Debates often center on balancing legitimate medical care with the recognition of non-medical determinants of health and preventing unnecessary labeling.

Demedicalization is the counter-process by which certain conditions are reinterpreted as non-medical, emphasizing social, psychological, or personal approaches rather than biomedical ones. Notable scholars in the field include Peter Conrad, who outlined the sociology of medicalization and its manifestations across society.