title: [Is the "biopsychosocial model" a helpful construct?].
abstract: In 1977, G. L. Engel proposed a biopsychosocial model, applicable to all illness and disease. It was based on systems theory which orders the world into a ladder (of systems) from the most elementary particles to social phenomena and the cosmos. Systems theory was proposed to combat reductionism and to deal with complexity and order. Central to that theory is the concept of emergence that the properties of each "higher" or more complex system are not explainable either by their components nor by those at a lower level. However, no one form of complexity exists. Some forms of complexity arise out of the interactions of the components, especially as the result of feed-back, which in turn allows us to understand order, and sudden change. Living systems are characterized by genetic programs, self-replication, self-organization and adaptability. These properties exist at every "level", and thus make systems theory and its hierarchies no longer necessary, and also eliminate the concept of emergence.
authors.affiliation: University of California, Los Angeles.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Weiner
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D005246:Feedback; D006608:Hierarchy, Social; D006801:Humans; D012803:Sick Role; D013598:Systems Theory
vernacular_title: "Das biopsychosoziale Modell" ein hilfreiches Konstrukt?