[Complex dynamical systems in psychiatry: an integrative approach]

Abstract

Background: Psychiatry may currently hold unprecedented knowledge in the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric conditions. Yet, there is a widely held belief that this knowledge is not adequately integrated, nor does it fully account for the complexity of the phenomena under study.

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of a system-oriented and network-focused approach in capturing and integrating the complexity of psychiatric disorders. Next, to explore the epistemological implications of such an approach.

Method: Narrative literature review.

Results: Psychiatric research is still too often characterized by reductionism, linear-causal pathogenesis, and traditional nosology. There appears to be a need for a different metatheoretical model in psychiatry.

Conclusion: The development from General System Theory to complex dynamic systems thinking and network theory holds significant epistemological implications for the future of the field, how we conduct science, and the way we frame and structure our care systems.