Drawings of depressed inpatients: intentional and unintentional expression of emotional states.

Twenty-six patients, aged 21 to 63, hospitalized for depression, and 26 control individuals were asked to make a "funny" and a "sad" drawing, which were scored on 22 variables describing their formal aspects and contents. Results show that drawings of individuals with depression differ from those of control participants on a wide range of variables, sometimes very significantly. Prediction of participants' groups based on eight variables obtained by discriminant analysis was correct in 98% of cases. Results support the usefulness of asking for the two kinds of drawings and suggest that depression is better detected through formal aspects of drawings than through their contents.