Abnormal psychology were thought to be possessed by evil spirits that had to be exercised through religious rituals. If exorcism failed, some authorities advocated steps such as confinement, beating, and other types of torture to make the body uninhabitable by witches, demons, and spirits. The belief that witches, demons, and spirits are responsible for the abnormal behavior continued into the 15th century. Swiss alchemist, astrologer, and physician Paracelsus (1493–1541), on the other hand, rejected the idea that abnormal behaviors were caused by witches, demons, and spirits and suggested that people's mind and behaviors were influenced by the movements of the moon and
Abnormal profit Abnormal profit persists in the long run in imperfectly competitive markets where firms successfully block the entry of new firms. Abnormal profit is usually generated by an oligopoly or a monopoly; however, firms often try to hide this fact, both from the market and government, in order to reduce the chance of competition, or government intervention in the form of an antitrust investigation. In principle, there are three kinds of abnormal profit: Business writer Michael Porter and Anita M. McGahan undertook an empirical study of the "emergence and sustainability of abnormal profits" in 2003, in which they concluded that both