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Handbook of the Sociology of Mental Health pp 61–73Cite as

The Medicalization of Mental Disorder

Part of the Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research book series (HSSR)

Abstract

Medicalization occurs when previously nonmedical problems become defined and treated as medical problems, usually in terms of an illness or disorder. After setting the historical context for how certain forms of deviant behavior became defined and treated as medical and psychiatric problems, we examine three more recent instances of medicalization. First is the growth of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) from a children’s disorder to a lifespan disorder, which highlights medicalization through the expansion of an existing medical category. Second, we discuss the emergence of social anxiety disorder (SAD) as a common diagnosis, focusing on how a pharmaceutical company initially marketed shyness and social anxiety as a disorder and then advertised Paxil as its preferred treatment. Third, we consider the debate about whether to remove the bereavement exclusion from the diagnostic criteria for depression in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, V (DSM-V), which would make normal grief a basis for psychiatric diagnosis and treatment.

Keywords

  • medicalization
  • psychiatric diagnosis
  • medical categories
  • ADHD
  • social anxiety disorder
  • bereavement exclusion

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In 2000, Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham merged to form GlaxoSmithKline. In 2001, GlaxoSmithKline’s Paxil received FDA approval to treat GAD.

  2. 2.

    For a wider discussion of DTC advertising, see Conrad and Leiter (2008) and Moynihan and Cassels (2005).

  3. 3.

    Some of the most common side effects for Paxil include feelings of nervousness, drowsiness, dizziness, sleep problems, nausea, constipation, weight change, decreased libido, and impotence (www.paxil.com).

Abbreviations

ADHD:

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

APA:

American Psychiatric Association

CDC:

Centers for Disease Control

CHADD:

Children and Adults for Attention Deficit Disorder

DSM:

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

DTC:

Direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising

FDA:

Federal Drug Administration

GSD:

Generalized anxiety disorder

LGBTQ:

Lesbian gay, bisexual, transgender, queer

MBD:

Minimal brain dysfunction

SAD:

Social anxiety disorder

SSRI:

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, 02454-9110, USA

    Peter Conrad & Caitlin Slodden

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  1. Peter Conrad
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  2. Caitlin Slodden
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Correspondence to Peter Conrad .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Community Health Sciences Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Carol S. Aneshensel

  2. Department of Sociomedical Sciences Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Jo C. Phelan

  3. Department of Sociology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

    Alex Bierman

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Conrad, P., Slodden, C. (2013). The Medicalization of Mental Disorder. In: Aneshensel, C.S., Phelan, J.C., Bierman, A. (eds) Handbook of the Sociology of Mental Health. Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4276-5_4

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