The Medical Model: Cause And Treatment Model

As a whole, the medical model is widely used as a cause-and-treatment style process for diagnosing mental illnesses. Often times, it operates by means of a psychiatrist conducting a clinical interview, observing the behavior of the patient, searching through medical records for any other pertinent information, and administering psychometric tests. By use of the medical model, following a diagnosis after all of the steps are completed, a psychiatrist will, “prescribe treatment such as drugs, psychosurgery or electroconvulsive therapy. However, since the 1970s psychiatrists have predominantly treated mental illnesses using drugs”1. Although the medical model can efficiently be applied to psychology, there still remain flaws that decrease its

For example, through utilizing the medical model, it has been found that the several of the underlying causes of schizophrenia are biological. First, an individual may be genetically predisposed to having the mental disorder. Second, there is the dopamine hypothesis, which McLeod summarizes how it claims, “that elevated levels of dopamine are related to symptoms of schizophrenia”1. Lastly, psychiatrists have also observed abnormal structural differences in the frontal and pre-frontal cortexes of the brains of those with have schizophrenia. Furthermore, the medical model has proven to be effective through its use of prescribing drugs. In the case of schizophrenia, patients can be prescribed one of a variety of drugs, such as typical antipsychotics, such as chlorpromazine, which in certain brain regions, block dopamine receptors, less typical antipsychotics, such as pimozide, which are not prescribed as often, or atypical antipsychotics, such as risperidone, which can black serotonin receptors. Taking into consideration the variety of symptoms and triggers that are possible in the case of schizophrenia, drug treatments have worked relatively efficiently. By means of the medical model and prescription drugs, patients who suffer from certain mental illnesses can receive a rather quick and inexpensive treatment. Particularly with schizophrenia, the drugs prescribed to patients have

Generally speaking, the prescription drug industry is often times seen as too much of an ultimate and finite answer to treating mental illness. However, mental illness is often a constant struggle for the person diagnosed, and obsessively prescribing drugs can lead relapse or addiction, which becomes more evident when Siegfried explains how, “Studies of community samples have reported a wide range of rates of substance use disorders in the severely mentally ill, from 13.2% to 45%”2. In addition, during a study conducted by Fowler, Carr, Carter, and Lewin in the Hunter Area Health Service, one hundred and ninety-four outpatients, who had already been diagnosed with schizophrenia, were observed in search of substance abuse and dependence. Siegfried explains how the four researchers found that, “The 6-month and lifetime prevalence rates of substance abuse or dependence were 26.8% and 59.8%, respectively, with alcohol, cannabis, and amphetamines the most commonly abused substances”2. Therefore, the addictive results that can come out of the use of the medical model are prevalent and serve as one the foundations as to why it should not be considered as a fully legitimate and reasonable application to