Description: Many people with epilepsy lead happy and fulfilling lives. Nevertheless, formal research has shown higher rates of mental and behavioral disorders (also known as psychopathology) among those with epilepsy than among the general population. For centuries, superstition and unproven theories provided the only answers to the question, "Why does this occur?" In the 1980s, researchers Bruce P. Hermann and Steven Whitman looked at what had been written about this issue and developed a conceptual model of the phenomenon, describing what was known and pointing toward promising directions for further study. They were the first to recognize the complexity of the issue and to state explicitly many of the factors that are likely to be involved. They enabled those studying the behavioral effects of epilepsy to leave behind many misconceptions from the past and enter the modern scientific age. Their approach has been responsible for many studies continuing to this day.