The other side of medicalization: self-medicalization and self-medication

The concept of medicalization has given rise to considerable discussion in the social sciences, focusing especially on the extension of medicine's jurisdiction and its hold over our bodies through the reduction of social phenomena to individual biological pathologies. However, the process leading to medical treatment may start when individuals engage in self-medication and thus practice "self-medicalization." But, can we apply to this concept the same type of analysis as the first and see merely the individual's replication of the social control mechanisms to which he/she usually falls victim? This article aims to demonstrate that the medicalization individuals practice on themselves takes on a completely different meaning to that practiced by the medical profession. Empirical data collected in France show that self-medicalization, which may involve treating a problem medically when doctors believe it to be of a non-medical nature, can be an attempt by individuals to furnish a social explanation for their somatic problems and experiences. In this article, I examine the social and political significance of this phenomenon.