WHO WE ARE
bioPsySocial provides a scientific and compassionate perspective on mental health research, practice and ethics by incorporating biological, psychological, and sociological lenses. We also cover other topics related to brain, mind and behavior. It was launched in May 2023 in Beirut, Lebanon by a medical student with a background in psychology.
OUR VISION
- Mental health is a central facet of our human condition in today’s world. People from all different backgrounds across the globe deserve access to the most suitable, personalized, and effective mental health care and information. To achieve that, it is essential to continue the scientific inquiry on mental health research and its dissemination.
- Mental health is a complex phenomenon that is the interactive result of a multitude of factors, such as biological, psychological, and sociological. This is referred to as the biopsychological model, from which our name derives.
- Although the biopsychosocial model has been considered a standard for decades in mental health, most research continues to examine its facets separately. Our reporting will try to bridge the connection further, relating the three aspects together as much as possible and with a special focus on research that integrates all of them, not just studying one at a time.
- We oppose biological denialism, as we believe biology and medicine have an important role in understanding and promoting mental health. At the same time, we deny biological reductionism and genetic determinism. While we believe biology is an important factor in mental health, it is not the sole contributor. One best understands a person’s mental health by looking at their context and environment as well, not just their inherent biology.
- We believe mental health research sometimes overmedicalizes human distress, and we strive to fight against that while also understanding the very important role medicine can play in improving people’s mental health and quality of life.
- In recent decades, there has been a parallel increase in mental health awareness and social media use. While this had beneficial aspects, it has also led to increased misinformation that is wide on social media platforms. bioPsySocial strives to fight misinformation on mental health and we base any statements on reputable scientific evidence as much as possible.
- Most research on mental health has been based on WEIRD (White, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) samples. We fiercely believe mental health science should be a science that is applicable to all humanity, not a specific subset and will take the samples into consideration when reporting new findings.
- We believe in open science, that scientific articles shouldn’t be behind paywalls and should be freely available to anyone interested or concerned.
- We believe in accessible scientific language that is both easy-to-understand but also remains accurately reflective of the actual findings.
- We believe scientific literacy is not merely about reading new literature, but also about having the skills to critically evaluate them and this entails methodological and statistical literacy. Accordingly, our coverage will seek to cover mental health research methodology, statistics and explore their importance whenever relevant.
- We believe mental health poses unique ethical challenges in both research and clinical settings and these deserve important coverage – which we will strive to offer.
- We understand that mental health debates, even regarding scientific evidence, are often polarized. We seek to reach a balance between different sides while remaining faithful to the scientific and ethical aspects.
- Finally, we reiterate that mental health is a central domain in our human lives. We believe the combination of better science, information and more compassion will lead to better mental health for everyone. And we’re here to support this journey.
Contact Us
If you have any inquiry or want to write for us, feel free to send us an email on contact@biopsysocial.com or reach us on Twitter: @biopsysocial!