Mental Illness: Biological, And Psychological Analysis

Depression is a mental disorder that patients will have the symptoms or conditions of depressed mood, fatigue, loss of interest, poor concentration and change in appetite or sleep. (WHO 2012). People in the past who lack knowledge on depression believed mental illness was a form of demonic possession (Nemade, Reiss and Dombeck 2007). But with the increased understanding of depression, most mental health professionals agree that the association of biological, psychological and social factors is the cause of depression. Nonetheless, some psychiatrists diagnose and treat depression focus on biological approach more than social aspects. They neglect the social factor is one of the main roles in understanding and treatment of depression. When depression

In the medical model, psychiatrists assume that the abnormal conditions of depression are caused by physical problems only. Some psychiatrists believe that depression and malfunctioning of physical structure are closely related. They mainly focus on the biological factors like neurotransmitters transmission and genetic problems (McLeod 2014). However, social and psychological factors are the main cause of depression. These factors will also influence the biological aspects. In fact, social stressors and life events are the main causes of depression (Monroe, Slavich and Georgiades 2009:340-360). Heavy school workload, job and financial problems or social failures are the possible social and psychological factors that will trigger a person under stress. As time goes on and problems still cannot be solved, acute stress will become chronic stress. When people under chronic stress, it affects body’s hormonal balance and neurotransmitters functioning. It can lead to depression. This shows that the cause of depression is closely related to social, psychological and biological factors. Using the sociological model is much better than using the medical model to explain the cause of

The medical model suggests that there is no harm to the patient when using medical treatment to treat mental illness. However, sociological model believes that medical treatment may cause harm to patients. Some treatments like talk therapy and behavior therapy are indeed no harm to patients. However, the two common medical treatments of depression which are drugs treatment and electroconvulsive therapy. They may produce some side effects to patients. For example, anti-depressants may cause kidney poisoning and brain haemorrhage (McLeod 2014). Electroconvulsive therapy may also cause memory loss and impaired language (McLeod 2014). Although medical treatment can reduce patient’s depression symptoms, these side effects do harm to patients. So, the theory of medical model that medical treatment of mental illness do not cause harm is not suitable for the treatment of