The bridge drawing: An exploration of psychosis

Psychosis occurs when reality testing is severely impaired and is manifested by disorganized behavior and speech. Art and brief therapies may be cost effective and time efficient treatment modalities for psychosis. A study investigating artwork characteristics in bridge drawings was designed to analyze differences between in-patient (n = 34), out-patient (n = 26) and comparison groups (n = 29). Blind judges rated drawings with a rating system developed by synthesizing the Formal Elements Art Therapy Scale (FEATS) and the Diagnostic Drawing Series (DDS) and concepts from the original bridge drawing directive. Statistically significant differences were found for: direction of travel, placement of future, prominence of color, use of monochrome, number of colors used, accuracy of color and use of the colors: yellow, green, blue, purple, and brown. Formal art characteristics can indicate the presence of psychosis in the artist.