Don't look now, but we've been medicalized

Bates

Published on	Description
Friday April 20, 2007 9:03 am	Don't look now, but we've been medicalized Not so long ago, shyness was usually seen as a random character trait, sadness the natural reaction to misfortune and alcoholism a sign of personal weakness. In recent decades those conditions, and many others, have been “medicalized” — associated with biological causes and redefined as medical diagnoses, not merely products of personality or fate.

Friday

April 20, 2007
9:03 am

Not so long ago, shyness was usually seen as a random character trait, sadness the natural reaction to misfortune and alcoholism a sign of personal weakness. In recent decades those conditions, and many others, have been “medicalized” — associated with biological causes and redefined as medical diagnoses, not merely products of personality or fate.