Name: Jamal Ahmad

Reg No: BSP201016

Date: 24-April-2021
Course: Applied Area of Psychology
Section: (2)
Assignment No: (3)

Submitted to: Miss Mehreen Aftab

Capital University of Science &

Technology
  Apply bio-psychosocial model of health or biomedical model on current
pandemic of COVID-19-which model comprehensively explain the
phenomena of health and illness and why, give arguments. (7)

Bio-Psychosocial Model of Health

According to my point of view bio-psychosocial model of health best describes the phenomena
of health and illness because I believe that this COVID-19 is psychological issue more than
medical because psychology is contributing a lot in this situation. Here we will apply this model
on current pandemic.
What causes illness?
We know that according to this model illness causes due to biological (virus) and psychological
(beliefs and behaviors) and social factors. When we talk about Covid-19 specifically we know
that this is a virus but treatable. But when we take it psychological terms then it triggers our
belief system and it also damages our social life. If we appraise it as a threat and people having
low controllability could not control it and this situation becomes a chronic stressor for them
and due to which they face the stage of cognitive impairment and feel anxious and depressed.
We also know that mental health has strong effect on our physical health, if we are mentally
strong and we have high controllability then our physical health will be better than others. So
majority of our beliefs and behaviors are involved in this pandemic which causes illness.
Who is responsible for illness?
As we discussed that according to this model, psychological and some social factors are
responsible for illness which are strictly bound with an individual like: unemployment, studies
pressure and future responsibilities etc. These are the factors which put pressure on patient and
he/she goes towards depression and due to such huge pressure, patient dies in the end and people
say that the person didn’t survive due to covid-19, in reality this pandemic was a physical
problem but due to poor mental health if affected the whole body of a patient because we can
consider it in psychological terms also. So this is an individual who is responsible for health and
illness because if an individual had a controllability and he has the ability to change his behavior
accordingly then he would have a better health in his life.
 How should illness be treated?
We know that our mind have relationship with our body. According to this model the whole
person should be treated like: one’s behavior and belief system should be changed because by
doing this his/her body will function accordingly so therefore different coping strategies
(Problem-focused coping and Emotion-focused coping) should be used to change his/her
behavior for better wellbeing and to survive in this pandemic.
Who is responsible for treatment?
According to this model the entire person should be treated because covid-19 is not just
medical/physical issue which is causing illness but psychology is playing its role in this issue, so
patient is responsible to take care of his/her physical and mental health through medication and
changing behavior through coping and therapies.
What is the relationship between health and illness?
According to this model we lie in a situation where sometimes our health converts to illness and
illness converts to health, our life is revolving in this state. There is no solid state that either we
are healthy or ill, according to this model. Except from covid-19, in our daily life we face issues
then we recover and become healthy and again we face issues as life goes on, so this is a life
time phenomena and our life overlaps with health and illness with a passage of time.
What is the relationship between mind and body?
As we discussed that covid-19 is medical and psychological issue but it’s more than medical
issue up to some extent. According to this model when covid-19 damages our body then it also
has an impact on our mental health but if we take it in psychological terms as we discussed then
it damages our mental and physical health also.
What is the role of psychology in health and illness?
Psychological factors are not the actual causes of illness but it plays crucial role in our health. If
we are mentally healthy then it will contribute and if not then in the case of covid-19 patient
experiences both mental and physical health problems. So we should not neglect psychology
because according to this model mind has relationship with body so it enhances both health and
illness.

 What are the major mental health issues that people are facing during
COVID-19 lockdown? (5)
 During Covid-19 lockdown people from every age are experiencing different mental issues
because this is an issue having more psychological consequences than physical. So here are some
major mental health issues given below:

Anxiety:

People are more anxious about their study, employment and their businesses etc. because during
this lockdown everybody has to remain inside of their houses and as a result anxiety is
continuously increasing in their life and due to this anxiety they are not able to perform their
daily life task properly. So this is one of the major mental health issue which is damaging our
normal life.

Mood Problems:

There are some people who enjoy social interaction, outing and parties. This lockdown brought
loneliness and mood disorders because these people are extroverts they like being surrounded by
other people and they enjoy such type of life. The large amount of people are experiencing
boredom because when we talk about socialization, some people love social interaction so just
because of lack of social interaction, they are facing mood problems like: sometime they feel
frustration.

PTSD:

If we talk about PTSD specifically, majority population like parents are facing this mental
problems because they have a lot of responsibilities in their life regarding their children,
expenses, future planning, and studies responsibility related to their children. This pandemic is
more severe for parents because they have to look after their children and themselves as well.

Depression:

Depression is very common mental issue which is now faced by every citizen especially by
teenagers because they love enjoyment in their life and due to the lack of social interaction and
being lonely, symptoms of depression are increasing with the passage of time in our society and
due to this issue suicide rate among teenagers are increasing.

Addiction:
 Life during this lockdown is very stressful so people are going to relieve their stress with
smoking, drugs, alcohol etc. Addiction is another issue which people are facing during this
pandemic especially students due to the high stress level of studies, employment and future
responsibilities. When they think about such things they go towards smoking and drugs they do
such things just to relieve their current pain or anxiety which they are facing but in long term
they get addiction of these drugs and this become a part of their life and later on they experience
psychological as well as medical health problems in their life.