The Biological (Medical) Model
The Biological Model of Abnormality (the only model not based on psychological principles) is based on the assumptions that if the brain, neuroanatomy and related biochemicals are all physical entities and work together to mediate psychological processes, then treating any mental abnormality must be physical/biological. Part of this theory stems from much research into the major neurotransmitter, Serotonin, which seems to show that major psychological illnesses such as bipolar disorder and anorexia nervosa are caused by abnormally reduced levels of Serotonin in the brain.(1) The model also suggests that psychological illness could and should be treated like any physical illness (being caused by chemical imbalance, microbes or physical stress) and hence can be treated with surgery or drugs. Electroconvulsive therapy has also proved to be a successful short-term treatment for depressive symptoms of bipolar disorder and related illnesses, although the reasons for its success are almost completely unknown. There is also evidence for a genetic factor in causing psychological illness.(2)(3). The main cures for psychological illness under this model: electroconvulsive therapy, drugs and surgery at times can have very good results in restoring "normality" as biology has been shown to play some sort of role in psychological illness. However they can also have consequences, whether biology is responsible or not, as drugs always have a chance of causing allergic reactions or addiction. Electrotherapy can cause unnecessary stress and surgery can dull the personality, as the area of the brain responsible for emotion (Hypothalmus) is often altered or even completely removed.
Read more about this topic: Models Of Abnormality
Famous quotes containing the words biological and/or model:
“No further evidence is needed to show that “mental illness” is not the name of a biological condition whose nature awaits to be elucidated, but is the name of a concept whose purpose is to obscure the obvious.”
—Thomas Szasz (b. 1920)
“The playing adult steps sideward into another reality; the playing child advances forward to new stages of mastery....Child’s play is the infantile form of the human ability to deal with experience by creating model situations and to master reality by experiment and planning.”
—Erik H. Erikson (20th century)