CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter presents an overview of past and future conceptions of abnormal behavior. Specifically, it introduces the concept of abnormal behavior and its definitional components while also describing the science of psychopathology; outlines some primary professions in the field and terms for understanding psychological disorders; describes supernatural, biological, and psychological models of abnormal behavior in a historical context; and summarizes a multidimensional integrative scientific approach for understanding psychopathology. CHAPTER OUTLINE UNDERSTANDING PSYCHOPATHOLOGY What Is a Psychological Disorder? The Science of Psychopathology Historical Conceptions of Abnormal Behavior THE SUPERNATURAL TRADITION Demons and Witches Stress and Melancholy Treatments for Possession Mass Hysteria Modern Mass Hysteria The Moon and the Stars Comments THE BIOLOGICAL TRADITION Hippocrates and Galen The 19th Century