Psychiatry Notes-graphology in Psychiatry

Alcohol intoxication produces abnormal handwriting with manifestations that are thoroughly described in the literature of forensic science. A less known phenomenon is the peculiar handwriting changes found in alcoholics, especially individuals in the later stages of the disease. In addition to the two handwriting states of non-alcoholic drinkers (normal/sober and intoxicated) the alcoholic writer has a third state, handwriting done in withdrawal. Withdrawal is a state of tension resulting in handwriting characterized by irregularity, ataxia and tremor. This type of abnormal handwriting creates special problems of authentication requiring detailed background history and appropriate comparison specimens, but it can also be used to judge the writer's state of sobriety.
In psychopathology, an interesting approach consists of observing the essential characteristics of already recorded entities. Very few works have been devoted to the rapport existing between graphological productions, personality structure and mental illness. This work concerns the handwritings observed in hysteric patients, diagnosed as such after taking into account case history and clinical interview. Our aim is to show the essential points which characterize this particular pathological structure. The stable features of hysteria are verified in graphic items. From, movement and ordonnance of such handwritings serve as useful aides in identifying the stages of maturation of the Ego. The graphological expressions observed in patients presenting with obsessional neurosis significantly contrast, however, with those encountered in the preceding personality structure (Hy). A comparison of these two different series demonstrate the utility of this work in clinical psychiatry.
(source)