Biomedical Perspectives on Mental and Somatic Health

Aim

On completion of the course, the student should be able to: - account for a biopsychosocial model for mental and somatic diseases - describe biological models of mental disease and pharmacological treatment principles - apply elementary epidemiological concepts in describing somatic and mental diseases - analyse health psychology as a subject area, its treatment models and applications.

Content

The course is an introduction to a biopsychosocial view on disease and introduces health-psychological models and applications, as well as a medical perspective on somatic and mental diseases. The course places strong emphasis on a basic understanding of medical concepts of relevance to psychology. An overview of epidemiological concepts, biological models and pharmacological treatment principles will be given. The course intends to provide the conditions for integrating psychological and medical models and treatment principles. During the course, strong emphasis will be placed at current health-psychological and psychiatric research.