Section A03
Week 6
“Pathologizing Everyday Life” sheds light upon the increasing difficulty of distinguishing between a “mental disorder” and a “mental distress” in the context of everyday life. Common mental health problems have become overly medicated in recent years, and the dangers of misdiagnosing mental illnesses has led to a large increase of real mental disorders across the country—nearly 46% of American adults are currently diagnosed with a mental illness. The number of mentally ill people within the United States has tripled over the past 20 years. A large problem is that medical practitioners (including physicians, pharmacists, and consumer organizations) can misdiagnose their patients for their own benefit—mainly to expand the market for those who make and sell treatments. This is known as disease mongering, which is "the practice of incessantly widening the diagnostic boundaries of illnesses and encouraging public awareness of these new diseases."
Although it is obvious that individuals' everyday struggles and stresses can be both physically and mentally exhausting, it is not necessary and even dangerous to medicate people for their supposed "mental illnesses." It is often difficult to distinguish between mental problems that are solely due everyday problems and mental disorders that truly need medical attention. Medical practitioners should not misdiagnose their patients simply for their own economic benefit. Because of these blurred lines, there needs to be a good, trusting relationship between a patient and his or her doctor.
Question: Can medical practitioners face consequences for misdiagnosing their patients for selfish reasons?
References:
Wasserman, Theodore (2016, July 15). Pathologizing Everyday Life. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
Social Anxiety Disorder [Cartoon]. (2017, March 17). Retrieved October 28, 2017, from http://designtaxi.com/amp-news/391713/What-People-Say-About-Mental-Illness-VS-What-You-Actually-Mean/.
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