The Biopsychosocial Model and Research in Mental Health

In the field of mental health, professionals must be constantly looking for ways to help their patients. (Cozby & Bates 2012). When dealing with research, it allows us to explore valuable information that has been

In the fields of research, psychological research poses a number of challenges due to the subjective nature of assessing and measuring emotional states and the development of personalities and disorders. Many biological and environmental factors contribute to a person’s unique psychological functioning. Although similarities can usually be drawn, a single experience can affect a varying number of people in different ways. This paper will focus on two particular methods of research and identify the pros and cons of both.

The biopsychosocial model (BPS) of health is a framework developed by George L. Engle. This approach postulates that health and illness are influenced by biological, psychological and social factors. These factors are all involved in the causes, manifestation, course and consequence of health and diseases. The biopsychosocial model was introduced as an alternative approach to the biomedical model which is a more narrow approach (Abraham, 2008). The biomedical model states that diseases can only be

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.

principal fields, with scenarios: developmental, physiological/biological, personality, clinical/counseling, social, industrial/organizational. Perhaps the field that best umbrellas the author’s firsthand experience is Physiological/Biological Psychology, since the

The Biopsychosocial (BPS) model greatly differs because while the biomedical answers the main question “why do people get sick?” the BPS also answers the question “why else do people get sick?” [9] According to the BPS model, the human being is complex and must be understood as a whole. That there is a relationship between body, mind and environment and that one aspect affects the others. Health and illness are caused by multiple factors and have multiple effects, from the biological or cellular level

The approach attributes complex events or phenomena to many causes. All these three components affect how a person develops. The biopsychosocial model is used in many fields because of how it examines how different factors affect an individual. Biological factors are usually due to genetics which are ingrained aspects of an individual such as hair color and skin tone. Biological factors also include other aspects such as brain changes and functioning of major body organs like kidney, liver or one’s motor skills. Psychological factors include aspects such as emotions, behaviors, thoughts, coping skills and temperament. The social component of biopsychosocial theory looks at social factors such as one’s culture, interactions with others, and one’s economic status (Newman & Newman, 2014). The theory is used in examining mental health disorders, social disorders and the general development of an

Proposed in the late 1970s, George Engel made a proposal called the biopsychosocial model (Straub, 2014). This model believes that all aspects of health are reliant upon three factors: biological factors, psychological factors, and sociocultural factors; and cannot be the symptom of one factor solely. It is thought that that all three groups of factors play an equally important role in both maintaining and deteriorating health (Varnekar, 2014). Occasionally, if health deteriorates; whether it is physiologically, mentally, or otherwise; a cultural influences take hold, an individual may turn to suicide as a means of coping.

In this paper, the biopsychosocial model will be compare to the biomedical model in terms of the underlying assumptions, drawbacks, and answering the questions of when, how,

The information obtained through the initial therapy session completed the biopsychosocial. According to Cormier (2016) a successful assessment will include identifying data, primary and secondary presenting issues, the client’s current life setting, family history, and personal history. Urbina (2014) discussed the benefits of using psychological testing to help create a treatment plan for a client. The biopsychosocial and psychological testing is beneficial to completing a successful treatment plan for Mr. Jones.

Biopsychology is a biological approach to psychology. Historically, researchers believed that neuropsychological disorders were of the brain, and psychological disorders were of the mind. Now, psychologists understand that these distinctions do not exist. Biological approaches to psychological disorders direct psychologists to consider the active cause and effective treatments of major psychological disorders. These major psychological disorders include schizophrenia, affective disorders, anxiety disorders, and Tourette syndrome (Pinel, 2009.)

The authors of this study are both creditable resources. John A Benson Jr., is a Dean and Professor of Medicine at Oregon University School of Medicine; Stanley J. Watson, is a Co-Director and Research Scientist in Mental Health Research Institute at University of Michigan. This independent review is targeted towards both clinicians and the general public because although the format leans towards scientific/medical jargon, it still is understandable even to those without a medical background.

A probable reason why CBT works with depressed patients is that depression interacts with both cognitive and motivational processes. This is well evidenced in experimental analogue research with healthy and depressed individuals. Individuals with depression show deficits on a range of cognitive tests (Brown, Scott, Bench, 1994) with the pattern of dysfunction having many of the characteristics associated with fronto-subcortical impairment. Reischies and Neu (2000) found that depressed individuals displayed mild cognitive impairments in comparison with matched controls, particularly in the areas of "adverbial" memory, psychomotor speed and verbal fluency. Further in these patients there appears to be considerable variation in the recovery of cognitive function with remission of the depressive episode.

The biopsychosocial model has been introduced to

The biopsychosocial model aims to explain an individual’s health as a culmination of his unique biological factors (comprising of genetics, temperament and biochemicals), psychological factors (such as mood, affect, personality, etc.) and social factors (cultural background, society within which one operates, familial factors, social interactions, etc.). Distorted biological factors such as composition of neurochemicals in the brain or abnormality in any other bio physiological processes can lead to ill health and diseases occurring in the body. Psychological factors such as clinical symptoms, psychopathology or even perpetual distress and negative thinking could lead to release in cortisol in the body. This is also known as the stress hormone