In consideration of the biomedical and biopsychosocial models, I do feel that each of them has their place in consideration of diagnostic and treatment methods when it pertains to physical health. But I would argue that for the diagnosis and treatment of mental health, the biopsychosocial model is more appropriate and beneficial. From personal experience, mental health issues are not associated solely with biomedical models and the reason I would say that is because of the stigma associated with mental health conditions. Case in point, let’s say you call off work because you have a stress fracture in your foot. You would get several thoughts and prayers and well wishes for healing and get well soon comments. Let’s leave off the “fracture” and you simply call off because of stress, often that would be frowned upon, unaccepted, or unaccommodated. If there was equity in physical and mental health, such a substantial stigma would not exist. Because of this, I feel there is significance in supporting the biopsychosocial model or as my organization like to call it, “holistic”.
Going back to my example, perhaps if we were better in supporting a biopsychosocial model, there would be less of a need for a biomedical model. I’d like to share an example of how this might play out. I recently had a staff member that called off to myself as her direct one up and the office manager of the clinic she is assigned to. Her reason for calling off was because she wasn’t feeling well and hadn’t slept. Side note-she had called off on a Monday and she had shared on social media that she had gotten engaged over the weekend. When I met with this staff member for our one and one, I had remarked I was surprised she called off because she wasn’t feeling well as opposed to her big news. She replied that I was correct, she had plans over the weekend that were put on hold because of celebrations and needed Monday as a get things done day. She said she knew I would have supported her but didn’t feel that she could be honest because the office manager wouldn’t have taken kindly to it. I was happy that she was open and honest with me because I often advocate and remind my staff that taking care of their mental health is just as important as their physical health. You mind and body support one another reciprocally. If you can call off because your body doesn’t feel good, you can call off because your mind doesn’t feel good too. Coincidentally, this same staff member was often sick in her previous role because of the toxic environment she was in. To me, this proves that your social experiences are factors in consideration of your mental and therefore your physical health.
The health organization I work for is quite expansive and encompasses several service lines such as primary care, gynecology, cardiology, bariatrics, oncology, the list goes on and on. I have worked in the behavioral health department for over the last decade. Over the last few years, we have been inundated with requests for help. We have had the arduous task of keeping up with the need and simply have a higher demand than available resources. We determined we needed to change the way we provided outpatient care. In retrospect it was not the most convenient time as we were contending with a pandemic and redesigning an entire department. Nevertheless, we charged on. The direction which was determined to be the most beneficial was a holistic model in which we are treating the whole person as opposed to just one piece of it. This would benefit our organization in totality working collaboratively and help our clients in eliminated isolated siloed care and worked in tandem with the other providers which the clients were a part of. When you go to the WellSpan Philhaven website, the main page touts “Promoting Hope, Healing, and Wholeness” (www.wellspanphilhaven.org). While there have been some individuals who have been interested in care be disappointed because of this criteria, it was determined to be the best method in which to treat our clients.
Suffice it to say, I am all in favor of a holistic approach which could be compared to a biopsychosocial model. In addition to my personal beliefs, there have been clinical studies acknowledging that this model reigns supreme when it comes to the mental health care. The National Library of Medicine did a study on the biopsychosocial model in contemporary psychiatry and concluded, “The biopsychosocial model will continue to remain valid in medicine and more so in psychiatry. Presently, a collaborative approach involving both the psychosocial and biomedical model is needed to enhance the horizon of psychiatric knowledge.” (Tripathi, et. al., 2019). In conclusion, mental health is so layered and can’t be treated adequately with a biomedical approach. For example, someone who has severe depression can have body aches, lethargy, and join pain, among other ailments. Conversely, often when someone has a significant physical ailment it can lead to a depressive state. Again, significant examples as to why it is imperative to “treat the patient and not the disease”.
Source cited-
Tripathi A, Das A, Kar SK. Biopsychosocial Model in Contemporary Psychiatry: Current Validity and Future Prospects. Indian J Psychol Med. 2019 Nov 11;41(6):582-585. doi: 10.4103/IJPSYM.IJPSYM_314_19. PMID: 31772447; PMCID: PMC6875848.
I enjoyed reading your blog post and think you made very valid examples to real world situations. Calling out of work due to a physical injury would impose responses of hoping you heal and sending prayers, but calling out for mental health issues would not be taken as seriously. Socioeconomic factors such as education and income can play a factor into causing psychological stress and ultimately depression.
Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2016). Applied social psychology : Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. SAGE Publications, Incorporated.