the increased use of antimicrobial agents, there is a speeding up of this natural process. Self-medication Self-medication by consumers is defined as "the taking of medicines on one's own initiative or on another person's suggestion, who is not a certified medical professional", and it has been identified as one of the primary reasons for the evolution of antimicrobial resistance. In an effort to manage their own illness, patients take the advice of sometimes false media sources, friends, and family causing them to take antimicrobials unnecessarily or in excess. Many people resort to this out of necessity, when access to a physician is rationed or temporarily unavailable due to lockdowns or GP surgery closures, or when the patients have a limited amount of time or money to see a prescribing doctor, or, especially in many developing countries with growing populations but a poorly developed economy which lack cheap, convenient access to clinical professionals. In these situations, governments naturally allow the sale of antimicrobials as over the counter medications. This increased access makes it extremely easy to obtain antimicrobials without any targeting (which would enhance utility) or restriction via time and cost, and as a result many antimicrobials are taken incorrectly leading to resistant microbial strains. One major example of a place that faces these challenges is India, where in the state of Punjab 73% of the population resorted to treating their minor health issues and chronic illnesses through self-medication. Two significant issues with self-medication are the lack of knowledge of the public on, firstly, the dangerous effects of certain antimicrobials (for example Ciprofloxacin causing tendonitis and tendon rupture) and, secondly, broad microbial resistance. In order to determine the public's knowledge and preconceived notions on antibiotic resistance, a major type of antimicrobial resistance, a screening of 3537 articles published in Europe, Asia, and North America was done. Of the 55,225 total people surveyed, 70% had heard of antibiotic resistance previously, but 88% of those people thought it referred to some type of physical change in the body. With so many people around the world with the ability to self-medicate using antibiotics, and a vast majority unaware of what antimicrobial resistance is, it makes the increase of antimicrobial resistance much more likely. Clinical misuse Clinical misuse by healthcare professionals is another cause leading to increased antimicrobial resistance. Studies done by the CDC show that the indication for treatment of antibiotics, choice of the