The sovereignty of medicine in our lives: medicalization

Year 2022, Volume: 27 Issue: 3, 347 - 356, 27.09.2022

Tayyibe Bardakçı

https://doi.org/10.21673/anadoluklin.1082071

Cited By: 2

Abstract

Medical practices change dramatically because of the recent scientific and technological developments in areas such as genetics, biotechnology and digital technologies. As the boundaries of medicine have become blurred, the focus of physicians has shifted from “What we can treat?” to “What we should treat?”. In such a rapidly changing world, medicine and technology are intertwined more than ever before, and this has affected medical processes, particularly the nature of medical knowledge. The transformation of medicine to an unhesitating and powerful authority, accelerated by the development of modern medicine, is strengthened with more successful results in diagnosis and treatment. The medical authority holds the reins of power to determine who is sick, healthy, or normal, or what conditions should or should not be considered as a disease. Today, many phenomena including birth, childhood, eating and drinking habits, mental states, adolescence, sexuality, pregnancy, agedness or death have been included in the field of medicine. Hence medicine has declared its sovereignty in our lives. This condition, called medicalization, although comes to the fore in the 1960s-70s, is a concept that still maintains its importance today and needs to be addressed. Medical interventions to the human body, human mind and human behavior are increasing day by day, and the scope of medical activities is expanding. Despite the fact that medicalization and treatment of cases that should not be under the influence of medicine cause many harms at the individual and societal level, this situation has been so widely accepted without questioning.

Keywords

disease, health, medicalization, overdiagnosis

Tıbbın yaşamlarımızdaki hakimiyeti: medikalizasyon

Abstract

Genetik, biyoteknoloji ve dijital teknoloji gibi alanlardaki bilimsel ve teknolojik son gelişmeler nedeniyle tıbbi uygulamalar önemli ölçüde değişmiştir. Tıbbın sınırları muğlaklaştığı gibi, doktorlar için odak noktası “Neyi tedavi edebiliriz?”den, “Neyi tedavi etmeliyiz?”e kaymıştır. Bu kadar hızlı değişen bir dünyada tıp ile teknoloji her zamankinden daha fazla iç içe geçmiş, bu da tıbbi bilginin mahiyeti başta olmak üzere tıbba dair süreçleri etkilemiştir. Modern tıbbın gelişimi ile ivmelenen tıbbın sarsılmaz, güçlü bir otorite haline gelişi, teşhis ve tedavide daha başarılı sonuçlar elde edilmesi ile pekişmektedir. Tıp otoritesi, kimin hasta, sağlıklı veya normal olduğunu ya da hangi durumların hastalık olarak kabul edilip edilmeyeceğini belirleme gücünü elinde tutmaktadır. Günümüzde doğum, çocukluk, yeme-içme alışkanlıkları, mental durumlar, ergenlik, cinsellik, hamilelik, yaşlılık veya ölüm gibi pek çok olgu tıbbın alanına dahil edilmiş ve tıp yaşamlarımızdaki hakimiyetini ilan etmiştir. Medikalizasyon olarak adlandırılan bu durum, 1960-70’lerde gündemimize girse de, günümüzde hala önemini koruyan ve üzerinde düşünülmesi gereken bir kavramdır. İnsan bedenine, zihnine ve davranışlarına yönelik tıbbi müdahaleler her geçen gün artmakta, tıbbi aktivitelerin etki alanı genişlemektedir. Tıbbın etki alanına girmemesi gereken olguların tıbbileştirilerek tedavi edilmesinin bireysel ve toplumsal düzeyde pek çok zarara yol açtığı bilinmesine rağmen, bu durum geniş ölçüde sorgulanmadan kabul edilmektedir.

Keywords

aşırı teşhis, hastalık, sağlık, medikalizasyon

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