Medicalization Research Paper

Words: 568
Pages: 3

The process of medicalization is the act of defining a troubling condition and labeling it as a medical problem. In modern times people who believe that they have a problem proceed to seek the help of medical professionals who they hope will give them a diagnosis that includes a disease sickness or illness to which they can attribute their problem instead of their own fault. In less contemporary or less modern times however, people would seek the assistance and guidance of their local religious leader who would then most likely attribute the problem they are having to their own sins or wrong doings putting the blame on the actions of the sick or troubled patients. With the rise of the legitimacy of science and medicine people have long drifted away from seeking religious leaders and go to medical professionals who will medicalize their problem into a now socially accepted to be seen illness or disorder. Also as psychiatry's reputation of status as a medical profession has built, it's framing of social behaviors …show more content…
It was seen as a blessing to claims makers now that it has become a problem they can use that claim and gain more sympathy for those with the problem and create more awareness for people to stand by them and support their efforts seeing that it needs to be addressed quickly. Also it took the blame from being solely on the patient with the problem but on the problem itself. In addition, medicalization could also lead to exceptional research to be conducted to fully understand and explain, in more detail, the different behaviors and disorders and their symptoms. This can lead to finding more ways to treat and regulate medicalization conditions as well. By medicalizing problems the negative connotations and stigmatism that comes with the original problem are taken away for the most part because it is no longer a behavioral problem but rather a psychological or biological