ANTHRO 134A Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Medical Anthropology, Late-Onset Hypogonadism, Social Anxiety Disorder
4 Nov 2016
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Document Summary
Medicalization refers to the process through which human conditions and or distress are defined in medical terms or treated with medical interventions. In the last several decades, more and more aspects of life in post-industrial societies are treated by medicine: ex: pms, odd, ptsd, andropause, social anxiety. These are all now disorders that are seen as diseases. There is no single process of medicalization. Issues include: decreased focus on religion and rise of faith in science/progress (things in the past may have been identified as spiritual problems but are now seen as medical/biological issues) Increased prestige and power of biomedical profession (ex: white coat). Being a physician or a practitioner is a very high status science and profession and the arguments that come out of this profession are thought of highly: decreased tolerance for mild symptoms and focus on enhancement.
