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The biopsychosocial model of physical and mental health problems has developed a strong legitimacy in the academy. It is put forward episodically as a laudable holistic rationale for the study of health and as a useful bridge between psychology and medicine. It has a very strong appeal in health psychology because it is a realist paradigm (and so is consistent with the traditional objectivist aspirations of the discipline). This paper provides a critical analysis of the current status of the model, attending to its potential alignment with General Systems Theory but also drawing attention to its continuing problem with medical, especially psychiatric, constructs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]