Rorschach markers in euthymic manic-depressive illness

Bipolar manic-depressive patients in remission are considered normal by phenomenological criteria but many psychotherapists have noted specific personality markers. The Rorschach test was chosen to study such personality markers since it may provide rich information at a psychological level distant from overt behavior and symptoms. 35 bipolar manic-depressives in a euthymic state were tested with the Rorschach Projective Technique. The scores were analyzed using Exner’s Comprehensive System methods and compared with his stratified normal control sample. Nine variables differentiated the patients from controls so that at least 50% of the patients were beyond one standard deviation from the controls’ mean. These variables might be personality expressions of the genetic predisposition to bipolar illness and might thus be measurable even when the patients are clinically free of affective illness.