Which of the following illustrates demedicalization?

• A. Homosexuality removed from the DSM as a mental disorder in 1973.
• B. ADHD recognized as a medical condition.
• C. Obesity is cured through medicalization.
• D. Diabetes was eliminated from medical control.

Answer: (A)

Demedicalization happens when something is no longer treated as a medical problem and the medical system reduces its labels, treatments, and control over it. Removing homosexuality from the DSM in 1973 exemplifies this because it stopped classifying a sexual orientation as a mental disorder, shifting the understanding away from medicine and toward social or moral interpretations. This change reduced medical oversight and medicalized framing of homosexuality, marking a clear move out of the medical domain.

The other options keep a medical frame in place. Recognizing ADHD as a medical condition keeps diagnosing and treatment within medicine, reinforcing medicalization. Addressing obesity through medicalization likewise expands medical intervention rather than reducing it. The idea of diabetes being eliminated from medical control would be a form of demedicalization in theory, but it wouldn’t reflect the actual pattern of how diabetes is managed, which remains under medical oversight.