The Rise and Fall of the Biopsychosocial Model

"Provocative . . . Ghaemi claims that one should leave muddled views behind and recognize that humanism in medicine is compatible with the bio-physiological model. The author offers William Osler's humanism and Karl Jasper's method-based existentialist psychiatry as exemplars. Essential."—Choice

"This is a thoughtful and well-researched book. At minimum, it is an essential read for academic psychiatrists and residents involved in teaching and learning. More broadly, it is a good read for anyone interested in the historical and philosophical aspects of psychiatric theories."—Hamid R. Tavakoli, MD, Psychiatric Times

"Impassioned and thoughtful . . . Ghaemi has produced both a penetrating analysis of the ascent of the biopsychosocial model as a psychiatric theory-of-everything and a weapon designed to bring about its decline."—Nicholas Kontos, M.D., Journal of Clinical Psychiatry

"A provocative and valuable piece of scholarship."—Gerald N. Grob, Bulletin of the History of Medicine

"This book is especially suited for those who want to ponder the direction of our field and who worry about the theoretical disorientation of modern psychiatry and our resulting need for deep organizing principles. Ghaemi's grasp is wide. His book will be as much disturbing as satisfying but will provide the reader a sense of where our field has been and where it may need to go."—Kenneth S. Kendler, M.D., American Journal of Psychiatry

"It may become an influential, revolutionary book . . . Stimulating and thought provoking."—Victor A. Colotla, PsycCRITIQUES

"A psychiatrist criticizes the idea of psychiatric disease as a product of biological and social factors."—Science News