Medicalization and Demedicalization — A Gravely Disabled Homeless Man with Psychiatric Illness

Abstract

Interview with Dr. Joel Braslow on how medicalization and demedicalization have affected patients, including those with chronic mental illness. (12:39)Download In our first Case Study in Social Medicine, a man presents to the emergency department reporting auditory hallucinations and suicidal thoughts. His case hinges on interpretations of whether his problems are medical in nature and within medical institutions’ scope of practice.