What is the BIOSYCHOSOCIAL MODEL 202013 Summer Internships

What is the BIOSYCHOSOCIAL MODEL? 202013 Summer Internships

Biopsychosocial Model • The biopsychosocial model is a tool that professionals use to examine how psychological disorders develop. • This lesson will provide a definition of this model and provide specific examples to illustrate how it can be used.

What is the biopsychosocial model? • How can we find out why a person has anxiety or depression? What elements are involved? We can often identify many factors leading to the development of a psychological disorder, such as genetics, difficulty regulating emotions or environmental stress. There is so much to consider that psychologists have adopted what is called the biopsychosocial (BPS) model, which examines biological, psychological and social factors affecting an individual, to examine how and why disorders occur.

What is the biopsychosocial model? • The BPS model is not just used by psychologists; it has many applications in different fields because of how inclusive it is of different factors that influence human behavior. A doctor might wonder: “How could different social situations lead to this disease? ” Or a social worker might want to see if a child’s developmental disorder might have to do with being in a foster family.

Biopsychosocial Breakdown in Terms • The “bio” component of this theory examines aspects of biology that influence health. These might include things like brain changes, genetics or functioning of major body organs, such as the liver, the kidneys or even the motor system. For example, let us say Joan has an accident that leaves her with reduced movement in her right arm. This biological change might influence how she feels about herself, which could lead to depression or anxiety in certain situations.

Biopsychosocial Breakdown in Terms • The “psycho” component of theory examines psychological components, things like thoughts, emotions or behaviors. Joan might go through many different psychological changes. She might experience decreases self-esteem, fear of judgment or feel inadequate in her life or job. These changes in thoughts might lead to changes in behaviors, like avoiding certain situations, staying at home or quitting her job. As she engages in these behaviors, her injury might worsen or she could suffer further depression and anxiety.

Biopsychosocial Breakdown in Terms • The “social” component of the BPS model examines social factors that might influence the health of an individual, things like our interaction with others, our culture or our economic status. A possible social factor for Joan could be her role in her household. Perhaps Joan is a new mother. An injured arm might reduce her ability to care for her new baby. Being unable to fulfill this social role might trigger problems with her husband or other family members, causing Joan stress that could lead to further biological or psychological problems.

Biospychosocial Breakdown In Terms • An important connection to make here is that the elements of the PBS model are all connected. Biology can affect psychology, which can affect social well-being, which can further affect biology and so on. Joan’s biological state changed, which affected her psychological state and social interactions, which all went on to affect each other again.

Biopsychosocial Breakdown In Terms • Thus, the power of the PBS model is that it looks at health and disease in a variety of contexts and examines how the interaction of different factors leads to specific issues for an individual. To successfully treat Joan, her doctors might incorporate physical therapy to help her arm recover, psychological therapy to work out distress and maybe integration into social problems so Joan can return to or create a regular social routine.

Applying the Biopsychosocial Model • Now that you understand what the BPS model is, let us look at an example to see how a practitioner would use this model in their everyday work. • Say that Dr. Rivera has a new patient exhibiting erratic behavior that includes disordered thought processes, hallucinations, difficulty with attention and delusional beliefs about the government. As an experienced practitioner, Dr. Rivera recognizes these as possible symptoms of schizophrenia. She decides to bring the client in and run several tests to diagnose her new patient.

Applying the Biopsychosocial Model • Dr. Rivera is also aware that many different factors can contribute to schizophrenia, so she decides to use the BPS model in her evaluation and treatment. • To first assess the biology of her patient, she runs several blood tests and brain scans. These can help look for signs of schizophrenia and rule out other possible conditions, such as a brain tumor.

Applying the Biopsychosocial Model • In looking at psychological aspects, Dr. Rivera is likely to conduct many tests that examine factors like emotional behavior, cognition, personality traits and perception. For example, she might administer a depression inventory or the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task, a sort of matching game to measure her patient’s cognition. The tests that are selected likely depend on the patient’s history and suspected problems.

Applying the Biopsychosocial Model • Now for the social area. Here, Dr. Rivera might ask the specific questions about their background, family life and social relationships. She would want to learn about cultural influences and environmental background, too, to learn how her patient’s behavior might have changed over time. • Dr. Rivera would then look at all the data together to make a diagnosis of her patient and come up with a treatment plan.

Lesson Summary • The biopsychosocial (BPS) model incorporates interactions between biological, psychological and social factors to help determine why an individual might suffer from a disorder. Psychologists, social workers and experts in other fields use it to diagnose and treat patients. Because the model looks at several different aspects of human health and behavior, it can be used in numerous settings to help examine disease and illness.

Biopsychosocial Model Key Terms • Bio – Bio references the biology and physical health of the patient • Psycho – Psycho refers to a person’s behavior, thoughts and emotions • Social – The social interactions, cultural background and economics are covered by the social component of the model. • Schizophrenia – Schizophrenia may be found in people with delusions, unusual behavior and difficulty focusing on daily tasks.

Learning Outcomes • After this presentation, you should be able to: • Define the interactions of the three parts of the biopsychosocial model • Determine how the model is used by professionals to figure out why a patient might suffer from a disorder • Detail each of the components in the model: bio, psycho and social

References • Retrieved from Study. com