Thick description and systems thinking: Reiterating the importance of a biopsychosocial approach to mental health.

ABSTRACT

STUDY AIMS: The article aims at reiterating the importance of a biopsychosocial approach to mental health, taking stock of the critiques that have been raised and moving forward throughout a reconsideration of the theoretical background of systems thinking and emphasizing the relevance of the concept of thick description for the promotion of an adequate reflection on methodology and case formulation. LITERATURE REVIEW It is our opinion that the biopsychosocial approach is still a powerful framework for making sense of the growing data collected in the different fields related to mental health and for designing proper treatment plans. A crucial challenge for mental health is that of surpassing the dichotomies and ideological disputes that still contaminate the field with detrimental effects on the advancement of knowledge and on the integration and continuity of different kind of interventions. CONCLUSIONS: The time is ripe for building bridges among neuroscience, humanities and social sciences, and this can only happen within the umbrella of a biopsychosocial perspective reinstated into its systems thinking background.