THE BIOMEDICALIZATION OF PSYCHIATRY - A CRITICAL OVERVIEW

The biomedical model currently dominates psychiatric clinical practice and research. Unfortunately, this dominance had led increasingly to b iological reductionism. This paper examines the historical and sociopo litical underpinnings of the biomedical model, and illustrates some of the common scientific distortions of reductionistic thinking. These o bservations are applied to recent directions in mental health policy a nd are used to provide a basis for alternative perspectives of mental illness and psychiatric research.