- Hand Reading Mini-Course -

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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.

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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