biomedical model

n. A level of explanation in psychology which describes mood, personality, and behavior through their biological or medical origins. Reliance on this model alone would describe genetics, neural structure, and neurochemistry, as well as the effects of drugs on the body. Strict reliance on this model would not involve psychological analyses of the causes of variant moods and behaviors. However, most psychologists today interweave biological/ medical analysis with a psychological model. For example, in the biomedical model, the root cause of depression might be explained as an error in circadian rhythms affecting a biological clock, in particular the balance of slow-wave sleep, which can be reset through appropriate pharmacological intervention. By contrast, a psychotherapist might look for an individual’s predisposition to depression caused by childhood loss or trauma or by particular patterns of thinking, as well as the physiological roots of the problem.

- VS