Allan Horwitz, PhD, a distinguished professor of sociology at Rutgers, explained a bit about what it means to pathologize someone, as well as the impacts it can have on individuals and society as a whole. Pathologizing, or considering someone abnormal, comes from pathology, i.e., the scientific field that works to discover the causes and effects of different diseases. While it makes sense in a lab setting—scientists work to analyze diseases based on preexisting information—it can be harmful and insulting in social contexts.
Who Is Most Likely To Pathologize Someone Else?
Pathologizing happens when a person makes an assumption about a larger group based on an idea or preconceived notion that they already have. Pathologization often comes as a result of a lack of education about groups that are considered “other.” For children, if they have heard ideas expressed, they may be pathologizing certain groups without realizing it because of what they have picked up from the people in their immediate surroundings.
Who Is Most Likely to Be Pathologized?
Behaviors and mental illness are two common things that people pathologize.
In the case of behaviors, it’s been studied in classrooms by looking at the stigmas surrounding both gifted kids and kids with learning disabilities. It can be hard for kids with learning disabilities to socially overcome the pathologizing of needing special education courses. In the case of mental illness, one symptom can often be lumped in with a larger diagnosis. Unfortunately, this also often results in the reliance on medications, which even professionals in the medical community have been guilty of in recent years.
It also frequently happens in schools with students from low-income families. These damaging stereotypes can be hurtful to kids’ mental health and their determination to succeed. Some researchers have even started to work with teachers in these schools to identify common stereotypes and mythologies to work to combat them.
What Are the Effects Of Pathologizing Someone?
Pathologization can impact people of all ages, and its effects can last for years and even limit opportunities for growth in some cases. For kids, being diagnosed with a learning disability could lead to the larger social implication of alienating them from their friends in their normal classes. This could lead to them feeling self-conscious or doubting their abilities for years to come.
What Is De-Pathologizing?
Horwitz notes that de-pathologizing is, to him, perhaps one of the most interesting current behaviors. “The most recent instance is Simone Biles who is praised for her courage in deciding to withdraw from gymnastics competition in the Olympics because of mental health concerns,” says Horwitz. “Similarly, the term ’trauma’ is now widely used to refer to expectable mental health effects of the COVID pandemic.” “People who are seen as having undergone some traumatic experience are rarely pathologized but instead seen as victims,” says Horwitz. “Likewise, anxiety and depression have largely lost their stigmatizing connotations and are now seen as normal, if unpleasant, experiences.”
Pathologization In Relationships
Pathologizing can happen in relationships and is a type of emotional abuse. If you continually notice that your partner is taking things they don’t like into diagnosis based on stigma alone, this could be a problem. For example, if they evade basic questions by calling you paranoid or neurotic or if they blame your insistence on certain levels of cleanliness on obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
How to Avoid Pathologizing Someone
Below are some measures you can take to avoid pathologizing someone:
Educating yourself on mental health or other stigmatized issues, you can better understand people as individuals and you can even be aware of the harmful pathologizing that certain communities consistently experience. Get to know people individually before judging them based on any number of factors in their background. Don’t be dismissive of statements that could be harmful to large groups of people.
A Word From Verywell
If you have been pathologized, it’s important to recognize that it’s not a reflection of you personally, but rather a reflection of others’ biases. In the case of Simone Biles, speaking truthfully about her mental health concerns as a public figure with a large platform could help destigmatize the topic for others. If you find that you have been guilty of pathologizing a group, work to educate yourself on them so that you can avoid such thinking in the future.
