Disease mongering

Disease mongering is a term used to describe a perceived attempt by pharmaceutical companies to promote public awareness of relatively minor conditions or diseases with the aim of increasing sales of medication.^[1] Examples include male-type baldness and certain social phobias.^[1] In discussions specifically about the validity of psychiatry, the term is frequently also used by proponents of the antipsychiatry movement^[2] and Scientology^[3] based critics to discredit psychiatry, neurobiological disorders, and the medications used for treatment. Examples include ADHD^[4] and bipolar disorder^[5].