The Famous Medical Model

I am almost certain that most of you have heard about the Medical Model. The Medical Model is famous for the invention of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) that is currently available in its fourth revision. The DSM is where you find the famous diagnoses such as Major Depressive Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia etc... The Medical Model is based on the theory that problems which bring you to therapy are organic in nature. Thus, our environment along with our genetic make up can trigger our brain chemicals to get out of balance which create symptoms that, when clustered together, become mental disorders. The idea is to treat those consumers who have to get those brain chemicals back into balance in order to be in normal working condition which means the reduction of symptomology.

Out of the five major mental health professions (Psychiatry, Psychology, Social Work, Mental Health Counseling, and Marriage and Family Therapy), the psychiatrist is the only professional that can prescribe (psychotropic) medications for DSM disorders. Recently, psychologists have been lobbying for prescription rights and have been able to prescribe these medications in some areas of the United States.

Pharmaceutical Companies have been developing famous medications such as Prozac, Zoloft, and Ritalin. The popularity of these medications have grown over the years and many of them are now household names. The pharmaceutical companies, psychiatrists, and the other mental health professions have gone to many lengths to convince the public of the truth about the legitimacy of the Medical Model. Upcoming blogs will explore these claims , introduce other possibilities, and discuss the politics within the mental health professional discipline.