Biomedical Model Summary

The medical model dismissed psychological explanations of mental illness, suggesting that such explanations were no better than demonology. In the mid-19th century, the prevailing belief was that all illness was caused by disordered physiology or brain chemistry. The search for psychological causes for mental illness, such as conflict, frustration, and emotional disturbance, was held back by the dominance of the medical model. This belief persists—explanations for alcoholism range from inheritance and other biological factors to life circumstances and a need to escape, exemplifying the contrast between the medical and psychological models (p. 502-03).

The biological model, or medical model, emerged in the late nineteenth century following the discovery of the correlation between brain damage and abnormal behavior. The critical assumption of the

Two of the three models of health and healing discussed by Dossey (1999) were Era II Body/Mind Model of the 1950s and Era III Body/Mind/Spirit Model of the 1990s. According to Dossey (1999), post World War II the Medical Doctors noticed that there was proof that the functioning of the human body can be affected by other factors such as stress and emotions which, can lead to diseases such as ulcers and high blood pressure. This model brought to light the realization that treating the human body is complex because when the physical body is not well the mentation of the patient is affected resulting in exacerbation of other

The biological model draws on traditional medicine and attempts to identify the presence of a ‘stable’ phenomenon called mental illness through scientific objectivity. One of the consequences of viewing

The Biopsychosocial model (BPS) was established in the early 1970s as a replacement for the biomedical approach created by George Engel (1977). He had argued against the reductionist biomedical model of disease for not considering the behavioural, psychological and social dimensions in the model (Jull, 2017). Wade and Halligan, (2016) had established that biomedical remains as the dominant healthcare approach. The aim of BPS is to integrate the biological factors with psychological and environmental factors, Engel (1977) suggested that the biopsychosocial model of illness has a significant role in the functioning of humans in terms of disease or illness and can make medicine more scientific and should be adopted into psychiatry research (Adler, 2009). Davies and Roache, (2017) established that the model was exceedingly determined, recommending new details for practices as well as a non-reductive advocate for mental illness.

The medical model focuses on the molecular structure of drugs and indicators of mental or emotional disorders. However, the medical model is not effective treating mental and emotional disorders. The medical model indicts the notion that abnormal behavior is the product of physical problems and be treated medically. The medical model depends upon independent tests to demonstrate or contradict if a patient is ill. The psychological model uses tests to demonstrate or contradict whether a patient is ill. It is at this point of agreement that the two models separate. A restriction to the psychological model is if a patient that is unconscious, or their communication ability is compromised to the degree that they are

suffering from some type of illnesses. I will explore these two researchers’ theories and discuss

Another model of health that evolved over time is the physical-mind model. This model purports that a person’s overall state of health or ability to heal can be affected on how or what they think. For instance, that depression or anxiety can negatively impact a critically ill patient’s ability to heal. It also recognized that feelings or emotions can physically manifest as illness. For example, someone who is extremely anxious can give themselves an ulcer, without doing something to physically harm themselves. Simply being under significant stress can cause a physiological response to stimulate the creation of more stomach acid and wears a hole in the lining of the stomach, creating an ulcer. When using this model of health, doctor and nurses can treat a person, mind and body, when they have an illness.

As described by Dr. Atul Gawande in his book Complications, medicine “is an imperfect science, an enterprise of constantly changing knowledge… fallible individuals” making medicine different from other scientific fields

Discuss what is meant by medicalisation and in what ways we can consider diseases to be socially constructed.

The biomedical model of health takes into account the physical or biological quality of life and is widely used in the Western medicine approach to health (Gurung, 2104). A basic assumption of this model is that the mind and body connection is irrelevant. Many advances in medicine have occured because of the biomedical model of health. In using evidence-based medicine it has been possible to evaluate the results of clinical and pharmaceutical research in order to make strides in medicine (Ashton, 1999). It takes advantage of algorithmic treatment options. Even though this approach may be more difficult for a psychiatrist to utilize when diagnosing and treating a patient, this model has radically shaped psychotherapy research and psychiatric medication (Deacon, 2013). The biomedical approach lends itself more readily to research because of its quantitative nature and it is less subjective than the biopsychosocial approach when measuring emotions and culture.

Society has progressed both socially and technologically as has medicine. This includes our understanding of health and healing as evidenced by Dossey’s three eras of medicine. Era 1, beginning in the 1800’s, reflected the prevailing view that health and illness are totally physical in nature and therapies included surgical procedures and drugs. Era 2, starting in the 1950’s, related to the mind and body. Practitioners began to realize that emotions and feelings can impact health. Era 3, still developing today, began in the 1990’s and builds on the previous eras by adding the spirit and proposes that consciousness is not confined to one’s

In the sociology of medicine Parson (1951) regarded medicine as functional in social terms. By tackling the person’s problems in medical terms the tendency towards deviance that was represented by ill health could be safely directed, until they could return to their normal self. (Lawrence 1994: p 64-65: BMJ 2004: Parson cited in Gabe, Bury & Elston 2006, p 127).

In order to understand health, different models or frameworks for thinking have been developed which have been useful. The Biomedical model which evolved since the 19th century from Galen’s (Greek physician 200AD) concept of pathogen, focused on removing the disease/disability and not on prevention or general well-being [9]. The Biopsychosocial model however, doesn’t merely focus on the physical state of

However the psychodynamic model fails to take into consideration the effects of the environment as does the medical model both are concerned with the internal workings and defects. The Psychodynamic model has had a lot of opposition as it is difficult to define and research, as processes like the id, ego and superego operate on an unconscious level and therefore there is no real way of knowing for certain if they are indeed happening. Most of the evidence provided by this model has been individual case studies which in itself makes it difficult to generalise.