Disease: Encyclopedia II - Disease - Social significance of disease

Disease - Social significance of disease

The identification of a condition as a disease, rather than as simply a variation of human structure or function, can have significant social or economic implications. The controversial recognitions as diseases of post-traumatic stress disorder, also known as "shell shock"; repetitive motion injury or repetitive stress injury (RSI); and Gulf War syndrome has had a number of positive and negative effects on the financial and other responsibilities of governments, corporations and institutions towards individuals, as well as on the individuals themselves. The social implication of viewing aging as a disease could be profound, though this classification is not yet widespread.

A condition may be considered to be a disease in some cultures or eras but not in others. Oppositional-defiant disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and, increasingly, obesity are conditions considered to be diseases in the United States and Canada today, but were not so-considered decades ago and are not so-considered in some other countries. Conversely, the number of people in the West who consider homosexuality to be a disease became widespread in the 20th century but has been decreasing in the last two decades.

To consider a condition to be a disease can sometimes involve a negative social value judgement. Lepers were a group of afflicted individuals who were historically shunned and the term "leper" still evokes social stigma. Fear of disease can still be a widespread social phenomena, though not all diseases evoke extreme social stigma.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Social significance of disease", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki