This is my first week of classes at Keene State and today I had my first abnormal psychology class. The textbook the Essentials of Abnormal Psychology the fourth edition covers many serious issues in the field of psychology from eating and sleeping disorders to the legality and ethics of mental health services. The first chapter is interesting because it talks about the defintion of psychopathology and the historical conceptions of abnormal behavior. The three historical approaches of pyschopathology are the supernatural tradition, which would be forces outside of oneself or social envioroment; the biological tradition which is the belief that psychological disorders are influenced by disease or biochemical imbalances; and the psychological tradition which is the view that psychological disorders are influenced by poor psychological development and from social circumstances. From reading the first chapter of the textbook it looks like abnormal psychology will offer many interesting perspectives on very serious issues in the field of psychology.