Hopes for finding the single, unitary hypothesis for a disorder will be futile. This does not negate the importance of doing narrow, specific experiments. Such studies are necessary for exploring specific associations and processes and for examining predicted relationships. Such experiments can provide a foundation upon which to build. The problem arises when investigators stop at that level and do not integrate their knowledge with other levels of investigation.
Psychopathology is very complex.
So too, then, will be the methods of study and the theories we build. The biopsychosocial model has much to offer. Nevertheless, the biopsychosocial model is open to criticisms as well. One of the strongest criticisms of the biopsychosocial model has been that it is a deficit model of psychopathology. So, to understand a disorder, we search for abnormalities in subjects' biology, relationships, and the like.