Understanding Disorders/Diseases
“The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease.” ~Thomas Edison
Perspectives on psychological disorders and diseases have changed throughout the centuries. Fortunately the medical model is alive and well today. Contemporary research has uncovered physical causes, both genetic and biochemical, for symptoms of some of the more troubling psychological disorders and diseases. The new level of understanding has led to new treatments to help patient’s incurable disorders and diseases. But the medical model has not always led to the miracle cures that health workers have hoped for. In the past, the focus has almost always been exclusively on nature, and almost not at all on nurture. The future of symptom treatment must consider environment or culture and the influence of such factors as stress, upbringing, and personal history.