In the last four decades, the use of psychological and social factors and biological aspects has become a common approach in addressing human health and wellness. In effect, this approach has replaced the traditional approach in which only biological factors were considered when addressing human health and disease (Robinson et al., 2022). The new approach, known as the Biopsychosocial Model (BPS), refers to an interdisciplinary approach that uses biological, psychological, and social factors and principles in addressing human health and wellness.
Developed by George Engel and Jon Romano at the University of Rochester, New York, in 1977, the method involves a holistic approach that allows practitioners to recognize each patient’s thoughts, feelings, and history. This model suggests that illness develops through a complex interaction of social, psychological, and biological factors (Robinson et al., 2022). This essay aims to develop a hypothetical story of an individual facing a stressful sociocultural conflict that causes some biological effect and demonstrate how BPS can be applied to manage the situation.
Amy, 37, is an African-American woman from Saint Paul, Minnesota. She has three children aged 17, 14, and 12. Amy and her former husband separated eight years ago, and since then, she has not been receiving financial help from him since he relocated to Texas and changed his contacts. She has never considered taking legal steps to force her former husband to provide financial help. Amy believes she can single-handedly raise the children and provide them with education since she works. She works in a private financial company as a market strategist, research expert, and consultant, a job she cherishes and wishes to retain till retirement. Amy is a perfectionist and always wants to ensure that all her work is comprehensive and beyond the company’s expectations, especially when conducting business research for client companies.
However, the job is very demanding with long hours of working. Moreover, she is the only black person in her department and one of the only two women in the section. The eldest child, a girl, has just joined college and is yet to obtain a scholarship. Currently, Amy has to meet all the education costs for the children. At home, no one is around to help her with the daily responsibilities, especially after the eldest child left for school in Austin, Texas. Her mother died 16 years ago of alcoholism and depression and had even been admitted to a mental hospital several times. Her grandmother, who cared for Amy during her childhood, also suffered depression several times and had to allow the city authorities to take care of the children several times.
Amy approaches Dr. Ben, a physician in the city. She presents with anxiety and signs of minor depression. She complains of stress, back pain, frequent and prolonged headaches, general body weakness, failure to concentrate, and poor appetite. Dr. Ben is a practicing physician and psychiatrist in one of the public hospitals in Saint Paul. He knows the need to apply the BPS model in dealing with such a situation.
In addressing the ill health affecting Amy, Dr. Ben starts by looking at the biological factors likely contributing to the problem. Looking at Amy’s family history, Dr. Ben finds that Amy has some genetic factors that act as a predisposition for mental illness, anxiety, and depression (Robinson et al., 2022). He considers the fact that several members of the family carried genetic factors, including Amy’s mother, sister, and grandmother. However, Dr. Ben cannot just use these factors alone in developing an effective approach. Rather, he also looks at the cognitive factors likely to trigger the illness.
In this case, Dr. Ben looks at the thoughts, behaviors, and emotions likely to trigger the illness, including Amy’s coping skills, learning, beliefs, and temperament (Nakao, Shirotsuki & Sugaya, 2021). He finds that Amy is fearful of what may happen to her health and the possibility of losing her ability to work and provide for the children. This fear and unproductive thoughts seem to impact her ability to manage the condition. Then, Dr. Ben considers the social and cultural factors likely to play a role in Amy’s situation. She finds that the client’s job is highly demanding, and she has to work long hours.
In addition, some male colleagues in her office are unhappy with her progress, and some have even been envious of her. She notes that in some instances, she found out that the male colleagues, uncomfortable with her presence and leadership, were spreading rumors about her lifestyle (Nakao, Shirotsuki & Sugaya, 2021). She learns that most of her colleagues were unhappy that a woman of color was leading them in the department. Some even falsely accused her of plagiarizing reports and distorting facts and figures in market research projects. Dr. Ben realizes that these issues have affected Amy’s self-worth, leading to isolation at work.
Based on the BPS model, Dr. Ben wants to run some tests for the neurological information to determine some issues with Amy’s mental health, including tests for ADHD. He determines the need for pharmaceutical interventions to manage the condition (Robinson et al., 2022). He also explores the patient’s emotions and thoughts during Amy’s distressing events and situations and what she does to manage them. As a result, Dr. ben administers an inventory to diagnose anxiety disorder and depression. For the social factors, Dr. Ben considers the issues that could help alleviate the illness, including contacting Amy’s close friends who agree to take care of her.
The doctor also finds that Joan, one of her friends, has agreed to help her with housework and take her jogging in the evening after work. Furthermore, Dr. Ben advised Amy to consider contacting the human resource (HR) department in her company about the behavior of her colleagues and manage work-family conflict (Shaygan & Yazdanpanah, 2021). After a month, Amy comes to Dr. Ben’s office in the hospital along with Joan. She appears happy, confident, and jovial and tells him that she can now cope with the problem and that the disease has “died off.” In addition, she says that the company’s HR had warned the male colleagues, who had since changed their attitudes towards her.
References
Nakao, M., Shirotsuki, K., & Sugaya, N. (2021). Cognitive–behavioral therapy for the management of mental health and stress-related disorders: Recent advances in techniques and technologies. BioPsychoSocial Medicine, 15(1), 1-4. Web.
Robinson, M. A., Kim, I., Mowbray, O., & Disney, L. (2022). African Americans, Caribbean Blacks, and depression: Which biopsychosocial factors should social workers focus on? Results from the National Survey of American life (NSAL). Community Mental Health Journal, 58(2), 366-375. Web.
Shaygan, M., & Yazdanpanah, M. (2021). Depression and work-family conflict mediating the effects of job stress on chronic pain: A structural equation modeling approach. International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics, 1-8. Web.