Supernatural Tradition Essay

I. Discuss the supernatural tradition in explaining abnormal behavior The supernatural tradition of abnormal behavior is a model existing since prehistoric times. This model consists of attributing the causes of abnormal behavior, or unusual behavior to be caused by forces, demons, and evil spirits. For instance, this evil spirits would be thought to inhabit the person, and cause them to behave awkwardly. Furthermore, this model refers to the high superstition of people for hundreds of years in the western culture. An example of how superstitious people were is found in a book called “The Witch Hammer”, which instructs how to punish witches. Some consequences of these beliefs were the killings of the women believed to be witches. For instances every time there was a person with an abnormal behavior, the person was in risk of being …show more content…
Explain the four humors and how these were used to explain abnormal behavior The theory of the four humors is a concept developed by the often called, father of modern medicine, Hippocrates, who believed that abnormal behavior originated from physical problems. For instance, he considered that any behavioral problem was due to a brain disease or pathology, and that, in the presence of an abnormal behavior, there was an imbalance or “the humors” that flowed through a person’s body. Some examples of these liquids are yellow bile, black bile, blood, and phlegm. The way in which Hippocrates considered that there was a problem in one of these mentioned fluids is like, if a person possessed too much yellow bile, then the person would have a “mania”, and if the person had too much black bile, would be suffering from melancholia. Therefore, an excess of black bile was considered to be too dark for the mood of a person; consequently, the person became sad and melancholic. In addition, he believed that if all these fluids are in equilibrium in the body, the person would behave sanely, and not show feelings of