Medical Model

Learned in PSYCH101

In psychology, the term medical model refers to the assumption that psychopathology is the result of one’s biology.

Some terminologies: Psychopathology: The study of psychological disorder Diagnosis: Medical term describing the classification of a psychological disorder. Etiology: Medical term describing the factors related to (or causes responsible for) the development of a psychological disorder. Epidemiology: Medical discipline studying the distribution of psychological disorders in the population. For example, who is more likely to receive a diagnosis: Men (substance abuse) or women (anxiety and depression)? When does the disorder first manifest: During childhood (autism), adolescence (schizophrenia) or late adulthood (Alzheimer’s)? Prevalence: Medical term describing the proportion of the population likely to manifest a psychological disorder during a given unit of time. One-year and lifetime prevalences are common time intervals used. Prognosis: Medical term forecasting the likely outcomes of a psychological disorder; whether or not various forms of treatment are likely to lead to improvement.