The use of the bender visual motor gestalt test with depressed patients

The literature was surveyed with the purpose of locating all reported signs of depression associated with the Bender-Gestalt. All Bender® manuals and leading textbooks were then perused for additional signs, descriptions of these signs, and the dynamic correlates associated with these signs. Thirty Bender® indices of depression were compiled from the literature review. Ten depressive categories were derived from the DSM-IV and other sources, and behavioral manifestations of each of these 10 categories were then outlined. A worksheet was developed consisting of the 10 categories, and the Bender® and behavioral determinants of each of these categories. Finally, two scoring procedures were proposed using a configurational approach. These consisted of the presence of 5 of the 10 categories, represented by Bender® or behavioral determinants. Each of these indicators received a weight of 2, making a total of 10 weighted points, a number believed to be indicative of depression. The second procedure comprises the presence of any 5 of the determined 30 Bender® signs of depression. Again, each of these signs is given a weight of 2 totalling a weight of 10 as a cut-off point for depression. Subjects who attain a weighted score of 10 or higher by either of the two above methods of scoring will be considered depressed.