Over-medicalization of mental health

Topic

The over-medicalization of mental health refers to the process by which normal human emotions, behaviors, and life struggles are increasingly defined and treated as medical or psychiatric disorders. This phenomenon is often driven by diagnostic expansion, pharmaceutical marketing, and a systemic reliance on clinical interventions over social or psychological support. Critics argue that it pathologizes ordinary distress and leads to the over-prescription of psychiatric medications while ignoring broader socio-economic factors.