The Medical Model in Mental Health

Abstract

The medical model is a biopsychosocial model assessing a patient’s problems and matching them to the diagnostic construct using pattern recognition of clinical features. Diagnostic constructs allow for researching, communicating, teaching, and learning useful clinical information to influence clinical decision-making. They also have social and administrative functions such as access to benefits. They may also help explain why problems occur. Diagnostic constructs are used to describe diseases/syndromes and also other types of conditions such as spectrums of conditions. Treatments in medicine and psychiatry have several treatment objectives including cure or reducing distress and a variety of mechanisms of action apart from reversing disease/cure. Causation of conditions in medicine and psychiatry are often complex. The medical model allows doctors to assess and offer effective treatments to large numbers of patients and provide emergency cover. Diagnostic constructs in psychiatry and general medicine overlap for attributes such as clinical utility (e.g. predicting likely outcomes) and validity (e.g. lack of boundaries between different diagnostic constructs) and importance of social factors. There is an overlap in effectiveness between psychiatric and general medicine treatments and many general medicine medications do not reverse disease processes. Different mental health classifications have particular strengths and weaknesses for clinical, research, and social functions. Mental health research into understanding causes and mechanisms may need other classifications than diagnosis. As doctors in all specialties encounter mental health problems, there will always be psychiatric diagnostic constructs compatible with their training. Mental health research and service provision will always need to address psychosocial issues.