Our Unhealthy Obsession with Sickness by Frank Furedi

In Frank Furedi's essay " Our Unhealthy Obsession with Sickness" he addresses the issues of the health organization, and how its impacted the cultural sphere of America. He points out four specific reasons that we spend an unhealthy amount of time and resources focusing on health and sickness. Furedi first points out the reason of "medicalisation". Medicalisation is used to make sense of extreme human experiences. The issue is that it can be sometimes unsure, and point out useless cures that may be solved in an easier way. The second reason he provides is "a presupposition that illness is as normal as health". Furedi explains that today, the cultural norm is to be ill, and that people who aren't ill are actually considered to be potentiall ill, and not just well. This title of being potentially ill instills the fear of getting sick and implies that wellness is not a normal state of being but rather something to be aspired for and achieved over time. The third reason he says is that "health (is used) to make sense of the human experience". He explains that people use the idea of health to give moral reasoning that is subjective, which can direct peoples understandings and actions. The final issue he arises is the "politicisation of health". Furedi explains that public health initiatives provided by the government are making people spend alot of money and resources that aren't always neccessary so that consumers will spend more money.

The essay was very informative. Although I found it a bit difficult to understand in the begining I soon got a hold of the concept. I could relate to the issues that Furedi arrises in his essay because as a child I had ADHD. When I was a child, a psychiatrist put me on some medication that made me lose my appetite and be reluctant to most fun activity. My older brother described me as being like a zombie. He said he would through pillows at my head while I was watching TV to get a reaction out of me but I would simply look back at him then look back at the TV again, being completely impassive to everything he would do. I would just calmly sit there and watch TV. I had lost some weight while I was on this medication and my brother after having noticed this weight loss and dramatic character change went on a strike and threatned to move out of the house unless my parents stopped feeding me that medication. After my parents agreed to stop, my character and appetite returned gradually and I was back to normal. It makes sense to give people a constant fear of health because it gets people to constantly go for check ups and spend money which goes into the pocket of the government. It makes more sense now than ever since are economy is in a recession, and the government desperately needs money. However, this understanding makes me uncertain about which health threats I should actually be concerned about, and which health threats I should just be aware of.