ABSTRACT
Handwriting is an acquired skill that is considered one of the most important parameters of personal identification. The production of handwriting involves a complex physical act between the brain and the moving hand and fingers in an extensive muscle and nerve system coordination to produce the finished writing. Some of the centrally acting drugs such as antidepressants can exhibit some interventions, which interfere with the process of writing. The aim of this work is to study the changes in the individual handwriting after different periods of therapeutic intake of the two main classes of antidepressant drugs from different technical points of view that are important in forensic document examination. In this study, 70 right-handed educated adult males and females were included by their handwritings. They were selected from the outpatients of the neuropsychiatric clinics in Kasr El-Aini hospitals. They were receiving regular antidepressants therapeutic regimen of one of the two targeted classes. Every subject was asked to present a personal handwriting document prior to the start of the treatment. A part of this document [about 4-5 lines] with its exact verbal contents was asked to be written by the same person. In all cases, the writing position was standardized regarding the posture of the writer and his position in front of the desk. The pen used was the same in all cases to facilitate the detection of the fine changes in the handwriting features. Groups were matched according to age, sex, treatment duration and the type of the used drug. It was shown that after drug intake there was a significant increase in tremors, pen pressure and word size in TCA users more than SSRI users. In addition, there were significant retouching and disturbance in word shape in TCA users more than SSRI users. Recorded changes were more obvious in males than females especially in patients aged more than 50 years. The results revealed direct relationship between duration of exposure to antidepressant drugs and their effects on handwriting parameters. Non significant increase in retouching, pen pressure, tremors and word size was recorded in TCA users when compared to SSRI users. [In conclusion, the effect of antidepressant drugs on the handwriting has to be considered while examining a document by the forensic expert, so as not to be misled by the drug intake and judge the document as a forged one