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self-medication

American  
[self-med-i-key-shuhn] / ˈsɛlfˌmɛd ɪˈkeɪ ʃən /

noun

  1. the use of medicine without medical supervision to treat one's own ailment.


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Crisps, chocolate bars and ice cream are identified as the culprits of this tendency, which the study viewed as "representing an early form of self-medication".

From Barron's May 22, 2026

This includes reducing infections through better water, sanitation and hygiene, improving vaccine uptake, strengthening hospital infection control policies, educating physicians and deterring self-medication by patients.

From BBC Dec. 4, 2024

Previous studies have described other types of self-medication in apes and other animals.

From Science Magazine May 1, 2024

There is also some evidence that ingesting faeces could be a form of self-medication to fight infections in birds, although more research is needed to confirm this theory.

From Science Daily Mar. 12, 2024

The layman naturally adopted the theory and the motto of his medical advisers; hence in his self-medication and also under advice he consumes such vast quantities of purgative nostrums.

From Intestinal Ills Chronic Constipation, Indigestion, Autogenetic Poisons, Diarrhea, Piles, Etc. Also Auto-Infection, Auto-Intoxication, Anemia, Emaciation, Etc. Due to Proctitis and Colitis by Jamison, Alcinous B. (Alcinous Burton)

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