Graphologists and lay readers are seldom physicians and only physicians may diagnose.
A graphologist, or any other non- physician, who diagnoses illness from the handwriting is practicing medicine without a license, a crime punishable by imprisonment.
Irreparable damage can be caused by falsely proclaiming medical disasters from handwriting based on the limited information found here.
Handwriting is the barometer of health. Handwriting has long been used as an assessment tool in neurological testing and as a demonstration of nervous system damage (lesions of the premotor region, spatial agnosia, afferent motor aphasia, lesions or wounds of the parieto-occipital region, etc.). In the 1970s, researchers found neurophysiological evidence of the interconnections between mind and body in the reticular activating system, the column of cells in the central part of the mid brain rising into the thalamic area. This system relays messages between the organs and muscles of the body and the higher awareness centers in the cerebral cortex in a two-way interchange of impulses. Speech, gestures, handwriting, and other expressive behaviors are overt manifestations of neurological and mental functioning.
Graphology (handwriting analysis) is the study of character, personality, and mental functioning through handwriting. Handwriting serves as one more diagnostic tool or chart. The patterns of emotional response, conscious behavior, and cognitive functioning as determined by the brain find expression in the handwriting and can be analyzed and understood. The handwriting reflects both the psychological and physiological states of the patient, thus is clearly valuable as an assessment tool In medical and psychological diagnosis.
Writing is partly a physiological movement involving the brain, nervous system, muscles, and supporting vital organs. It is also an automatic, mechanical activity, accurately reflecting psychological and physical functioning and disorders. Disorders disrupt the normal rhythm, balance, and posture or attitude of the whole system, resulting in changes in the physiological movement which are observable in handwriting.
Handwriting and the Human Body
When writers’ thoughts dwell on any part of the body, that concern is shown by the stress or emphasis in the corresponding area of the handwriting. The human body can logically be correlated with the handwriting via the concept of the three zones. The top of the upper zone relates to the head, with neck and shoulders just below. Upper spine and chest are in the middle zone, the abdomen is in the middle zone, and genitals are just below the baseline. The legs and feet form the lower zone of writing.
The relationship between handwriting and the human body.
Brain functioning has a cross-over effect. This means that injury to one side of the brain results in damage to the opposite side of the body. In much the same way, a problem occurring on the right side of the handwriting refers to the left side of the body, as viewed from the front.
Illness is shown in the handwriting by certain changes in the script corresponding to the area of the body affected. These “markers” appear because, either unconsciously or consciously, writers want to Indicate there is a problem and where the problem lies. Typical markers of illness or injury are dots (hesitation marks), skips (interruptions), and changes of direction (indentations). Dots that seem to have no purpose are resting places for the writer, who momentarily feels too weak to continue.
Other indicators include:
- Difficulty in making curves, with the resulting flattening of sides, top, or bottom.
- Pointed loops and ovals.
- Uneven pressure or avoidance of pressure.
- Heavier spots appearing randomly and not connected to a faulty pen.
The reader must be cautioned at this point that signs of illness in handwriting are generally gross. The field of graphology in health has not yet been scientifically established and validated. This work is still in the arena of empirical observation, though research is ongoing.