Fatima Biopsychosocial Model

Health psychology is a subdivision of psychology which investigates how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors contribute to one’s health and well-being. “It is one of the most rapidly developing fields in contemporary academic psychology.” (Kaplan) It is based on the biopsychosocial model which was developed by George Engel in “response to the biomedical stance that all illnesses are related to biological deficiencies” (Engel, 1977). It was then determined that not only biological but psychological and social factors need to be taken as a count to diagnose an individual’s health. The biopsychosocial model examines and indicates the effects of the biological, psychological and social factor in an individual’s life. Biological factors help determine …show more content…
“An extension of this thinking is that in order to help people in the physical healing process, we need to pay attention to their psychological and social needs in combination with treating their medical needs” (Suls & Rothman, 2004). This essay will examine the case study of Fatima according to the biomedical and biopsychosocial model to determine a more suitable way of diagnosing one’s health and illustrate the psychological construction involving the …show more content…
The psychological construction of Fatima’s case includes parental pressure, illness onset, poor quality of life, behaviors such as diet, illness progression, stress and financial pressure. As explained before, the biopsychosocial model signifies the biological, psychological and social factors of one’s health. There is no indication of any biological factor in the case study but many psychological and social factors. The psychological factors that have affected Fatima the most would be her stressful life, from being a single parent to having to overwork so she can provide just enough for her family to survive. Being a single parent to two young children puts massive pressure on her as she is expected to play both parental roles of a mother and a father for her young ones. Another psychological factor is that she is expected to provide support for her children financially and emotionally. To be able to fulfill her family’s financial needs she must work 50 hours a week and manage the family leaving no time to take care of herself. A significant behavior factor that has affected her health is her poor diet which mostly involves eating processed foods. She is not receiving proper nutrients which can contribute to stress and her body’s performance. Processed foods such as macaroni and cheese have many chemicals and are high in sodium which