overmedicalization

Overmedicalization is the process by which normal human experiences and minor health variations are framed as medical problems and treated with medical interventions. It is a form of medicalization driven by social, economic, and clinical factors, and it can extend the reach of medicine beyond what is necessary for improving health.

Drivers include expanding diagnostic thresholds and disease definitions (often following epidemiological shifts or marketing), increased use of screening and preventive medicine that detect incidental findings, pharmaceutical and device industry incentives, defensive medicine, and a medical culture that values treatment and risk reduction.

Consequences: overtreatment, adverse effects from medicines or procedures, higher health care costs, psychological impacts of labeling and stigmatization, normalization of medical surveillance, and resource diversion from more serious conditions. It may also undermine patient autonomy by pressuring individuals into interventions.

Common domains include the pathologization of ordinary life experiences (such as sadness, shyness, or aging-related changes), mild or subclinical symptoms treated pharmacologically, and lifestyle or social problems addressed with medical solutions rather than social or behavioral strategies. Critics caution against medicalizing normal variation while recognizing the benefits of appropriate care.

Responses include critical appraisal of diagnostic criteria, emphasis on shared decision making, guidelines to reduce unnecessary testing, deprescribing efforts, and broader debates about the goals of medicine and the allocation of health resources.