- Hand Reading Mini-Course -

PSYCHIATRY - Depression: hand type & malformation palmar creases (Charlotte Wolff)

INDEX (P1) - INTRO (P2) - HISTORY (P3-7) - DISEASES - (P8-13) - PSYCHIATRY (P14-25) - PSYCHOLOGY (P26-32) - CONCLUSION (P33-34)

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Hand Diagnostics & Psychiatry:

depression - hand type & malformation palmar creases (Charlotte Wolff)

In a study presented by Chackraborty1 the hands of people with bipolar disorder were frequently featured with a radial loop fingerprint pattern.

Another interesting insight is described in a study presented by Jelovac2. The dermatoglyphics of people who suffer on bipolar disorder, appear to have more matches with the dermatoglyphics of people who suffer on schizophrenia - compared to the dermatoglyphics of 'normal' people (controls).

LEVEL 2: hand morphology and depression

Regarding the hand morphology some interesting research results are described in the work of Wolff3 focussed on the hands of people who suffer on a manic-depressive (bipolar) disorder. Wolff describes that bipolar disorder was frequently featured with a (fleshy) motoric hand type (see table A-1). The finger tips are rather remarkable: square and usually 'not flexibel'. And the nails are often short, and sometimes: not fully developed.

Martin & Manning4 have found that asymmetry in finger length (length of the individual digits) can be related to the feelings of depression. However, this relationship was only observed in a small sample of males (N=52).

LEVEL 3: the palmar creases and depression

Only a single study focussed on the relationship between the bipolar depression (the manic-depressives) and the creases of the palm. Charlotte Wolff3 found that the simian crease does not play a major significant part in this matter, for the simian crease was not more frequently observed in the hands of the patients - compared to the controls.

However, Wolff has observed that the hands of the bipolar patients are very frequently featured with malformations in both the heartline (distal palmar transverse crease) and the headline (proximal palmar transverse crease): see table C-10.

- Table C-10: Malformations in the heartline and the headline & the bipolar disorder.
- Malformations------- controls----------- patients
- In the heartline-----------25 %-----------53 %
- In the headline-----------36 %-----------69 %

Sources:

1 - chacraborty, D. et al. (2001). Dermatoglyphic analysis in Malay subjects with bipolar mood disorder. Med. J. Malaysia, jun: 56(2), p.223-236.
2 - Jelovac, N. et al. (1999). Dermatoglyphic analysis in bipolar affective disorder and schizophrenia: "continuum psychosis" hypothesis corroborated? Collegium Antropologicum, Dec: 23(2), p.589-595.
3 - Charlotte Wolff, The hand in psychological diagnosis. Methuen & Co. Ltd., London, 1951.
4 - Martin, S.M. & Manning, C.F. (1999). Fluctuating asymmetry, relative digit length, and depression in men. Evolution and Human Behavior, 20: p.203-214.


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Common used synonyms for hand reading are: palmistry - palm reading - hand analysis - chirology - chiromancy - chirognomy