medium · GMAT Verbal

Passage: The medicalization of social behavior—the process by which non-medical problems become defined and treated as medical disorders—represents a significant shift in the landscape of contemporary sociology. Historically, behaviors categorized as deviant or eccentric were managed through religious or legal frameworks. However, the expansion of medical authority has reframed these issues as physiological or psychological pathologies. Critics argue that medicalization can lead to over-diagnosis and the commodification of health, where pharmaceutical interventions are prioritized over structural social changes. Proponents, conversely, suggest that medicalizing certain conditions reduces social stigma by shifting blame from the individual's character to their biology. While medicalization has undoubtedly improved the lives of many by providing access to treatment, it also risks individualizing social problems. For instance, addressing worker burnout primarily as a clinical depression may obscure the underlying issues of labor exploitation or poor workplace conditions. Ultimately, the tension remains between the benefits of clinical recognition and the dangers of diagnostic expansionism. The primary purpose of the passage is to:

1. Prove that pharmaceutical companies are the primary drivers behind the over-diagnosis of clinical depression.
2. Describe the phenomenon of medicalization and analyze the competing perspectives on its social implications.
3. Demonstrate that the biological reductionism of medical authority has successfully eliminated the stigma of mental illness.
4. Argue that religious and legal frameworks were more effective than the medical model in managing social deviance.
5. Advocate for a complete return to structural social changes rather than individual clinical interventions for worker burnout.

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