... consciousness, mental disorders can arise when an individual has unresolved conflicts and traumas from childhood. Defence mechanisms may be used to reduce the anxiety caused by such unresolved conflicts, but they act more as sticking plaster than as a way of sorting out an individuals problems. The medical model has clear implications for treatment. If mental illnesses are basically illnesses of the body, then treatment should involve direct manipulation of bodily processes. For example, if a mental disorder such as for example schizophrenia involves biochemical abnormalities, then drugs can be used to correct these abnormalities. Drugs have been used with some success to treat various disorders such as schizophrenia, anxiety, and depression. The medical model argues for direct manipulation of the physiological system within the body, and uses somatic therapy (a major part of which is drug therapy). Drug therapy has been used in the treatment of several disorders, and ...

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