NEUROSIS & OTHER BEHAVIOUR DISORDERS. By Erik Rees FBIG (dip)

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1 NEUROSIS & OTHER BEHAVIOUR DISORDERS By Erik Rees FBIG (dip) Because the analysis of handwriting contains many contradictory and contrasting indications that confuse the less experienced graphologist, I have tried to provide a guide that should help them. I have taken examples from my own experience as well as from the short bibliography at the end. HYSTERIA In today s terminology this name more often than not, refers to someone succumbing to Histrionic Personality Disorder. It is characterised by immaturity, self- centredness, attention getting, manipulativeness and often a vague type of seductiveness. It is a general term and in modern psychology, this title covers a series of what are now known as Personality Disorders, i.e. disorders manifested by maladjustments in motivation and maladaptive patterns relating to one s social environment. These fall into 3 main categories i.e. General, Sociopathic and Sexual. There are others but this discussion cannot deal with all of them. General Compulsive disorder: Is seen in handwriting as repetitive movements that are extra to normal ones. Apart from double dots or double t- bars, we see pointless strokes of various kinds. Combinations of sharp angles; illegibly combined I dots; margins that don t follow consistent patterns; concealing strokes; lack of endings; narrowness of letters and space between letters and over connections of words. These are all cases where compulsiveness is possible. 1

2 To establish that there is such a problem, the reader must be aware of the difference between the scripts of unpractised writers and those who are using an otherwise good form level, whenever these examples of compulsiveness are seen. Cyclothymic (or Cyclic) disorder: because this disorder is due to surges of mood in both elation as well as depression, we will see unusually erratic baselines and swings in direction. When this disorder is Manic the severity of the problem is far greater and so the writing will become at least partly illegible and the pressure will become strongly uneven and/or extremely heavy. Paranoid disorder: Signs of aggression become evident because the writers suffer from bouts of suspicion. They feel people are against them and lose trust in those around them. Many books have been written pointing to indicators such as quick speed; heavy pressure; triangles in the zones, usually the lower one; angles and stressed t- bars. Mixed in will also be the signs of argumentativeness such as over long starting strokes; hooks, knots and ticks; downward pointing t- bars and disconnected writing. Writers suffering from the symptoms mentioned above are said to show schizoid tendencies. These can be relieved by removing the stress that caused them. Should a writer be truly paranoid then he or she would need to have an actual persecution complex. The handwriting would then be difficult or even impossible to read and there would be a mixture of deteriorating movements, gaps, size changes in all zones and a very uneven pressure distribution. At least some of these indications would be seen, not necessarily all of them, because the severity of such a problem varies. 2

3 Sociopathic Antisocial disorder: Signs of isolation, i.e. wide spacing of all kinds, again depending on the severity of the problem. The ego of the writer will also show up as either inferior or superior, depending on which attitude causes the desire for withdrawal. Dissociative disorder: A general cover term for those disorders characterised by a breakdown in the integrated functions of consciousness, perception of self and sensory motor behaviour. This covers such problems as multiple personality and forms of amnesia. It will be noticed in a script by missed letters, odd spaces and changes in the form of the writing. Please note that stroke patients have odd missed letters in their writing and this will need to be checked out. Dyssocial Personality disorder: An obsolete term for a problem characterised by a seriously distorted sense of ethics. E.g. professional criminals who have a loyalty towards other criminals but not to their victims. Loyalty is portrayed in handwriting by consistency; legibility; will- power; regularity; fullness and rhythm. In the case of a dyssocial person the visible signs of loyalty would be mixed into an appropriately low form level. There would probably also be a lack of consistency. Sexual Libidinal signs are well known to most graphologists. Deviations in this area are too loosely termed as perversions. These do not become a problem until the person concerned is aggressive enough to attack victims intending to hurt, maim or injure in any form. This will show up in a script in the lower zone with an overlap into the other two. It is this aggression that needs to be seen in the writing and it will be as pressure deviation into the horizontal sphere; pointed endings; triangles; swords; arcades with angles and ataxic movements. NB: The above discussion deals with disorders of a behavioural class and does not include neuroses and psychoses manifested as pathological developments in a personality. 3

4 NEUROSIS This is a personality or mental disturbance not due to any known neurological or organic dysfunction. The meaning dominant since Freud, has been used descriptively to denote identifiable symptoms that while distressing and painful, are relatively benign because reality testing is intact and social norms are by and large, adhered to. Then it is used etiologically to indicate a cause due to unconscious conflicts that evoke anxiety and lead to the use of defence mechanisms that ultimately produce the observed symptoms. Inner conflicts and defence mechanisms can be identified graphologically by torn slants; split pressure; self- destructive signatures and an inability to produce a capital ppi. There are other signs as well such as the indicators for lying; neglect; speed; exaggeration and isolation. Once again we must not forget the severity of the problem, which will influence the signs. PSYCHOSIS Psychotic disorders are severe mental disorders of organic or emotional origin and the defining feature of these is gross impairment of reality testing. The person makes incorrect inferences concerning external reality, makes improper evaluations of the accuracy of his or her thoughts and perceptions and continues to make these errors in the face of contrary evidence. Classic examples are delusions, hallucinations, severe regressive behaviour, dramatically inappropriate mood and markedly incoherent speech. As soon as speech is impaired and/or mood is affected, we see this in handwriting. This ranges from signs of fantasy (upper zone) to mistaken repetition of, as well as missing or split letters, to rapidly falling or rising lines. 4

5 Hallucinations are also caused by drug abuse and we see these as ballooning letters and unbalanced writing, with size changes in all zones. Severe regressive behaviour is identified by slant problems; changes in direction; changes in letter spacing and letter widths. At this point I need to remind readers of the form level changes that I mentioned in my Notes on the Assessment of Form Level. I identified a spoiled high and an elevated low to show that regressive movements in a high form level, or progressive movements in a low form level, need to be appreciated. The severity of the spoiling movements in a script of whatever level can identify the writer who is a psychopath. Alarm bells should also ring when a script is exceptionally distinct and regular, similar to a persona or calligraphic and unnatural writing. Bibliography Alfred O. Mendel Personality in Handwriting. Stephen Daye Press, New York Renna Nezos Graphology. Rider & Company, London Arthur S. Reber Dictionary of Psychology. Viking Penguin Inc. New York 5

DIPLOMA THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF GRAPHOLOGISTS PART 1 PART 2 PART 3. MBIG (dip) Member of the British Institute of Graphologists

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