There is something odd about the trend to turn any behavioral quirk or any departure from happiness as illness needing treatment, preferably of the pharmaceutical variety, something we might call the Sickening of America. Or a push to make us all the same -- bland and conforming. Perhaps this rush to medicate is the realization of Brave New World. Take a look at the instances of "problems" being sought for treatments, as detailed in The Independent --
The following were all mentioned as targets for treatment with psychopharmacology:
Shyness
Bereavement
Internet Use
Temper
Pornography "Addiction"
Gambling
Compulsive Buying
Fear of Public Speaking
Low Sex Drive
Stealing
Poor Social Skills
Domestic Violence
If all of these are treatable "illnesses", then obviously the range of acceptable normal behavior is narrowed considerably and any thoughts about autonomy and ability to change one's own behavior or to find value in exploring its meaning go out the window.
"For drug companies, this market is potentially huge. It's claimed, for example, that almost half of women have a sexual problem. Nearly 8 per cent of adults, it seems, have intermittent explosive disorder, while another 8 per cent are compulsive shoppers. Thirteen to 15 per cent – around 10 million of us in Britain – are said to be social phobics, and up to 10 per cent have a fear of public speaking. On top of that are the gamblers, the phobics and the depressed – all suitable cases for treatment.
But critics argue that some of these treatments amount to medicalisation of individual differences and traits. Unlike physiological diseases such as cancer, behaviour disorders are a grey area, with no clear boundary between normality and illness. While there is no doubt that people at the extreme end do need treatment, others who may have symptoms may not."
Even those at the extreme ends could just as easily benefit from therapy, from gaining some insight and understanding about the problems experienced and some alternative ways of dealing with them.
That drug companies are eager to expand their markets in this way is understandable from their point of view. But why are the people for whom the drugs are prescribed so eager to see themselves as disordered and thus willing to be medicated? Especially given the side effects that accompany these medications? What does it mean that so many are willing to opt to be seen as "sick"?