1. treating or regarding something as a disease or disorder; diagnosing or classifying as pathological
Usage: present participle of pathologise (British spelling); also spelled pathologizing (U.S.); often used critically to describe the medicalization of normal behavior or social issues

Examples

• Critics argue that the school is pathologising childhood anxiety instead of addressing underlying stressors.
• Pathologising grief as depression can prevent people from processing loss naturally.
• The medical community has been accused of pathologising normal variations in human behavior.
• Rather than pathologising introversion, we should recognize it as a valid personality trait.
• Psychologists debate whether the new diagnostic criteria are pathologising everyday stress.
• The tendency to pathologise minor social difficulties has increased with expanded mental health awareness.