The use of the Rorschach to differentiate unipolar and bipolar disorders.
We compared the Rorschach performance (using the Comprehensive System; Exner, 1986) of 29 unipolar depressed, 15 bipolar depressed, and 18 bipolar manic inpatient subjects (N = 62) classified on the basis of the Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC; Spitzer, Endicott, & Robbins, 1985). The three main groups differed from one another on a variety of variables, especially those related to ideation and information processing. One finding of particular importance was that bipolar depressed subjects, like bipolar manic and unlike unipolar depressed subjects, showed a high level of cognitive slippage. These results suggest that the Rorschach possesses utility in the differential diagnosis of affective disorders.
Singer
H K
HK
Medical College of Pennsylvania, Eastern Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute.
Brabender
V
V
D000328:Adult; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012392:Rorschach Test / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*