Medicalization can bring legitimacy, support and treatment, but it can also lead to over-diagnosis, stigma, and unnecessary treatment. 


Arizona State University

Medicalization is the process by which non-medical problems are treated as medical issues, typically in terms of illnesses, disorders, or syndromes. It often involves diagnosing normal human experiences (e.g., sadness, aging, sleeplessness) as medical conditions. It can be driven by doctors, institutions, the pharmaceutical industry, or even patients themselves.

Medicalization

Coveney, Rachel, Simon J. Williams, and Jonathan Gabe. "Medicalisation, Pharmaceuticalisation or Both? Exploring the Medical Management of Sleeplessness as Insomnia." Sociology of Health & Illness, vol. 41, no. 1, 2019, pp. 31–49. Wiley Online Library, https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.12820.


Medicalisation, Pharmaceuticalisation, and the Sleep Problematisation of Older Age in the UK Reference

Seeing grief or shyness as conditions requiring therapy or medication. 

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