1. to treat or classify (a condition, behavior, or social issue) as a medical problem requiring medical intervention
Usage: often used critically to suggest that non-medical issues are being inappropriately framed as diseases

Examples

• Critics argue that society has begun to medicalize normal childhood behavior like shyness.
• The pharmaceutical industry has been accused of medicalizing everyday stress as a disorder.
• Some experts worry that schools are medicalizing learning differences instead of adapting teaching methods.
• Doctors must be careful not to medicalize social problems that require social solutions.
• The trend to medicalize aging has led to increased prescription drug use among elderly patients.