#FinalProject

[cocoxi]

The Medicalization of Mental Health

By: Coco Zhao Medical Sociology - Spring 2025

Welcome to my final project for Medical Sociology! My topic is the medicalization of mental health — how normal human feelings started to be treated as illnesses. I’ll explore how this happened, the effects it has today, and why it’s important to understand.

Overview

Mental health has always been a part of human life, but the way we understand and talk about it has changed a lot over time. Today, many normal emotions and behaviors are treated like medical problems that need a diagnosis and sometimes even medication. This process is called medicalization, and it's had a huge impact on society.

Medicalization of mental health basically means that feelings like sadness, worry, or even anger are more likely to be seen as symptoms of a disorder instead of just part of being human. Sometimes this helps people get support they really need, but it can also cause problems, like overdiagnosis, unnecessary medication, and stigma.

Sociologists have studied how medicalization grew over the years. Some of the main drivers are changes in the healthcare system, the pharmaceutical industry, and cultural attitudes about mental illness. Also, updates to the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) have expanded the list of diagnosable conditions, which blurs the line between normal life struggles and medical disorders.

Understanding how mental health has been medicalized helps us ask important questions: Are we pathologizing everyday life? Are people getting better care — or just more labels? These are some of the issues I’ll explore through research in this project.

Evidence and Quotes

Peter Conrad (2005) explains, “Medicalization occurs when nonmedical problems become defined and treated as medical problems, usually in terms of illnesses or disorders” (p. 4). He also points out that pharmaceutical companies have played a growing role in driving this change.

Allan Horwitz (2007) says, “The expansion of psychiatric diagnoses has transformed a wide range of normal psychological experiences into mental disorders” (p. 213). This shows how the DSM changes have contributed to medicalizing normal human emotions.

Allan Horwitz (2025) adds, “We are facing a twenty-first-century mental health crisis where the boundaries between illness and everyday sadness are increasingly blurred.” His work emphasizes how society today struggles to draw clear lines between mental health and mental illness.

Bernice Pescosolido et al. (2010) found that, “Public beliefs have shifted significantly, viewing mental health conditions more like physical diseases, though stigma remains deeply rooted.” This shows how medicalization affects how people view mental illness, but doesn’t always erase discrimination.

Nikolas Rose (2007) argues that, “Mental health management has become part of a broader project of governing individuals’ inner lives through self-regulation and pharmaceutical means.” In other words, medicalization has become a tool for social control, not just healthcare.

Allen Frances (2013) warns, “Overdiagnosis leads to unnecessary treatments that can actually harm more people than they help, eroding public confidence in psychiatric practice.” His article critiques the DSM-5 for expanding the number of disorders without enough caution.

This graph showing the growth in mental health diagnoses over the past decades.

Conclusion

After exploring this research, it's clear that the medicalization of mental health is both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it has helped many people recognize that they need support and has reduced some stigma about seeking help. On the other hand, it has also made it easy to label everyday struggles as disorders, sometimes pushing people into treatments they may not actually need.

The changes in the DSM, the influence of pharmaceutical companies, and the cultural push for quick solutions all play a role in this trend. While medicalization can validate real suffering, it also risks pathologizing the human experience.

As we move forward, it's important for both professionals and everyday people to find a balance — recognizing real mental health conditions without automatically labeling every tough moment as a disorder. Mental health awareness is crucial, but so is remembering that not everything painful is a pathology.

Thanks for checking out my project! Feel free to message me if you have any questions or thoughts about the topic! 🌟

Sources

Conrad, Peter. 2005. "The Shifting Engines of Medicalization." Journal of Health and Social Behavior 46(1):3-14.

Horwitz, Allan V. 2007. “Transforming Normality into Pathology: The DSM and the Outcomes of Psychiatric Classification.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior 48(3):211-222.

Horwitz, Allan V. 2025. “The Sociology of Mental Health and the Twenty-First-Century Mental Health Crisis.” Society and Mental Health.

Pescosolido, Bernice A., et al. 2010. “A Disease Like Any Other? A Decade of Change in Public Reactions to Schizophrenia, Depression, and Alcohol Dependence.” American Journal of Psychiatry 167(11):1321-1330.

Rose, Nikolas. 2007. "The Politics of Life Itself." Theory, Culture & Society 18(6):1-30.

Frances, Allen. 2013. "The New Crisis of Confidence in Psychiatric Diagnosis." Annals of Internal Medicine 159(3):221-223.

[potaetoepotahtou]

Final outcome of my model

This project expresses the crisis of our planet through art. By incorporating synesthesia, the whole journey of the project is more interesting and impactful.

The public typically prefer imagery over text and most of them are not scientifically literate. This is where the art of representation comes into play. The term “representation” suggests the depiction of someone or something and the creation of a visual form representing something else in the world.

By using representation to explore and convey the psychological and emotional effects of the society’s problems, artists can create powerful and thought-provoking works whilst fostering empathy and understanding among the audience.

This site was chosen intentionally as it creates a palimpsest effect of global warming awareness on top of second world war history. Both are equally important.

[nichamin]

Hi, this is my final project for storytelling. I did advertisement about book that can bring back dead people by trade someone you love now. So the story it about a boy with his dog trying to find The After Life book to bring his mother who died from war but he doesn’t know that what he has to do when he finds that book., he doesn’t know he has to trade someone that he loves (prob his dog) to bring his mom back. So if it is you who found that book would you trade someone you love for someone who died?

[speedester17]

Final Assignment of CEID-100

Excited to share our final group project for CEID100!

[ryssachrysalis]

My final project from my intro to (machine) sewing class. I'm unreasonably proud of myself and am looking forward to intro to apparel sewing. My dyslexia causes me frustration and I need to get a better seam ripper but I'm loving this.

[mg-photography]

This project is the combination of photography and charcoal from independent mediums. As the concept is of photos capturing one moment in time forever, additive charcoal allows an artist to constantly change an illustration while maintaining the same canvas. I executed the concept by taking photos of a charcoal piece changing and telling its story.

The charcoal piece finishes as a darker gray than the beginning scene from charcoal fatigue and the photographs including a beginning intro of the paper to exiting the art back to that beginning paper create a more artistic movement to the project. The project was inspired by surreal means in which two realities exist at the same time but in completely different lives.

By drawing each 121 frame, I hope this project translates to the best of my intention. The significance in this project is that it will only exist in this form for the rest of its existence--as in it was created, erased, and changed again and again and the only way to view its only stages of life is by these photos.

[shaemefulanimation]

Death by Donald Revell

As we entered the second week of DT5 I began fleshing out the audio track that would form the basis of my animation. I recruited the help of my flatmates boyfriend, Will, to do the voice over, and I spent countless hours listening to endless piano tracks to find the one that spoke to me the most.

I eventually came to the decision to use Two Birds by Fredrik Lundberg as my backing track, and to only use the middle section of Death as I felt like I could create a really compelling narrative with that material - and also knew I only had a few weeks to achieve this project. Here is what I am using, and here is where you can read the full poem:

"Death," I said, "if your eyes were green I would eat them."

For what are days but the furnace of an eye? If I could strip a sunflower bare to its bare soul, I would rebuild it: Green inside of green, ringed round by green. There'd be nothing but new flowers anymore. Absolute Christmas.

"Death," I said, "I know someone, a woman, Who sank her teeth into the moon."

For what are space and time but the inventions Of sorrowing men? The soul goes faster than light. Eating the moon alive, it leaves space and time behind. The soul is forgiveness because it knows forgiveness. And the knowledge is whirligig. Whirligig taught me to live outwardly. Shoe shop. . . pizza parlor. . . surgical appliances. . . All left behind me with the hooey. My soul is my home. An old star hounded by old starlight.

"Death, I ask you, whose only story Is the end of the story, right from the start, How is it I remember everything That never happened and almost nothing that did? Was I ever born?"

Here is a few of the key saves from my audio editing process:

Here are some of my early scribbles for this narrative:

My writing is absolute chicken scratch, but key ideas that I have been floating include abstract moments on the "death" lines that include a mouth swallowing the moon, a representation of death moving closer on each "death" line, as well as more narrative features like an older figure reflecting back on their life.

In my research and brain storming I came to realise this poem uses imagery and metaphorical expressions that speak on transformation and renewal, and what better way to represent both death and transformation/renewal than through the feature of birds - hence why the bird song got added into the track.

I also felt this was a perfect metaphor to explore since the track I was using was titled "Two Birds".

Expanded ideas on birds:

Bird having a love story

Bird reflecting on a human love story/life cycle

Bird going through a life cycle

"Death" lines could include birds flying out from behind a character

"Death" lines could have character turning into bird/grow wings

Bird watching from a cage, revealed at end

I will include my current mood board in my next post as I breakdown different elements and aesthetics I am currently wanting to explore.

It also feels odd to continue on with this project without discussing something tragic that occurred over the weekend (Nov 3/4). One of my dear friends, Sahara, unfortunately passed away. I contemplated scrapping the idea entirely and starting again - and who knows, I still might - but decided that while this is a poem about death, it is actually a poem that celebrates life.

Craig Teicher writes, "the poem proposes a mighty act of communion, a gathering together of readers and writers, speakers and listeners, living and dead. This is a poem of deep empathy, of comforting and keeping company. Revell wants us to feel less alone and less afraid to die, whatever we believe. Revell’s poem can help us: so that when we think of death, we can remember we are blessed with life."

I feel so incredibly blessed I got the opportunity to meet Sahara and call her a friend, her death is a tragedy that will weigh heavy on the hearts of everyone that knew her. I dedicate the remainder of this project to the light she brought into every room, to the warmth she brought into everyone's lives. She will be so deeply missed.

[officialpenisenvy]

i want your psycho, your vertigo shtick, i want your tojigumi breastfeeding fic...

love love love i want your love!! in the form of kanpai by finalproject a fic which lives in my head rent free and has made me cry from laughing too hard multiple times.

[finalpr0jects]

🍚🌸

I'm final! I am a multifandom multishipper and tomfoolerous miscreant. 30+. any pronouns. (🔞 + dead dove)

ao3: finalproject

Bsky: finalproject

discord: finalproject

DMs are open! Pls let me know (here on Tumblr) if we were moots and you'd like to be again. I do my best to tag thoroughly! I'm on discord most often.

[daimblog]

Rendered sections of final project

#3dsmax #lumion #interiordesign #finalproject #sections #renderedsections #finalprojectrenders #designproject

[roaming-through-time]

Well friends,

The last post was my finale destination for this trip, I am now headed back home where it is the 21st century. I can definitely say this was a one-of-kind trip that I will never forget. I am so lucky I was able to share this experience with you and hopefully you guys were able to enjoy it as much as I did sharing it. Until next time... bye!!

#UntilWeMeetAgain #TimeTravelerAtHeart #RoamingThroughRome #HIS101 #FinalProject

[sweetmochibunny713]

4th Blog: Final Pitching and Final Project

The team have prepared for the pitching for about 1-2 days, it was rough because of things loading up. We were very busy because of the upcoming case presentation of one of our major subjects and most of us didn't get to sleep because of the preparation, thus we spliced our task of one another for the preparation for the pitching.   Some of my team mates didn't get to do their part so I have to cover for it. The team had some disappointments during the pitching. I was confident that everything would be fine, and everyone on the team was prepared. But I was wrong, the team's pushing who is going to report or talk first, thus I talked first and I didn't realize that I was just talking the presentation like reporting it, because I'm so tired, I feel like I was there but not there and also I was nervous and my other group mates were doing nothing. Earlier that day, I help my other 2 group mates to finish our power point quickly, so I multitasked to do our case manuscript as well as to prepare for the final pitching.

Our professor was really disappointed and made comments on our pitching so one of my team mates talk to our professor that hoping she will give us a second chance to redeem our group and he will be the only one who was going to persuade the investors. Successfully, he was able to persuade them but there were errors about our product, the team asked too much money for a start up and didn't calculate the profit if we going to actually sell the product. I was really disappointed of my team and to myself too because I realized that give my very best to pitch our product but its still not enough but also happy at the same time, since it was done. Thus, I learned that it is really important for us to be prepared on time to avoid cramming of activities but still I realized that no matter how much I manage my time there were circumstances that I can't control.

For our Final Project I directed the team on what they are going to do, provide what scenario on what we are going to do and edited our video. I can say our team may lack a bit of unity and members are not that cooperative. Some of them are really hard to persuade to participate in the said activity but luckily I was able to tell them that they should do their part since they were very essential to make this project be successful. Thus the team decided at first to do a raw video where it is like an advertisement but in the end the team decided to do an animated video presentation for the product for it is feasible, and also time bounded for us. I learned that Team work makes the Dream work. Because still without my team we will not be able to accomplish this final project.

[subodha002-nibm213-adam]

Unemployment Animation

Background Song -  Eminem - Sing For The Moment(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4hAVemuQXY)

[finalpr0jects]

Hey all!! Looking for anyone 21+ who might be interested in a Tav x Tav (oc x oc) BG3 rp!

My Tav is a young Half-Wood Elf, cis male, Charlatan Ranger. I'm open to any gender, class or race. Ideally something plot-heavy in the world of Baldur's Gate. I can reply frequently (multiple times a day or ideally rapid fire at a set time), usually with two-three paragraphs depending on the needs of the scene. DMs are open if you're interested! I RP on discord.

Happy to provide writing samples or you can check out my AO3 @finalproject for my writing portfolio 🫡

[deadkiriyama]

Seeing as I've just started this years FMP alongside my students, it seemed only right to post some of the work I've created for the previous final projects I've done for the past 2 years. This was my final outcome for my 2021 outcome; a linocut poster for the original 1954 Godzilla film. I'm still happy with how this one came out, and really enjoyed the development process. I'm still planning on doing more in the series, but it'll have to wait until I finish this current project. . . . . #project #finalproject #studentproject #fmp #finalmajorproject #ual #ualartanddesign #suffolknewcollege #collegeproject #godzilla #1954 #toho #artwork #art #print #printartwork #printmaking #poster #filmposter #fanart #speedballart #speedballink @speedball_art #blockprint #linocut #lino #kaijuart #monsterart #kaiju #throwback #throwbackthursday (at Ipswich, Suffolk) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpAhOYXobjy/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[daimblog]

Final projects renders

#3D #3Dsmax #lumion #sketchup #final #finalproject #interiordesignproject #designproject