Freud based his school of thought on sexual instinct and problems, without placing sufficient importance on any of the other instincts which often contribute to nervousness, arrested development, and a state of repression.

Alfred Adler, the pupil of Freud, mainly stresses the drive for power, but he particularly emphasizes the roots of all evil which are grown in early childhood. The child is aware of the fact that he is physically and mentally inferior to the adult. Often even small defeats and humiliations arouse in him a feeling of impotence and inferiority. In addition to these, innate physical weakness may aggravate the child's feel­ing of insufficiency. The adult's lack of indulgence and com­prehension can intensify the child's sense of conflict at a very early age. The first memories play an important part in Ad­ler's research. He asserts: "With a feeling of inferiority which has increased through the passing years, the youth also in­creases a desire to demonstrate his self-confidence. He wants to impose his personality upon the environment which he has learned to dominate."

A feeling of inferiority may cause such nervous disturbance in a child as stammering or facial tics, as well as forcing him to indulge in making faces and performing other such exhi-bitionistic naughtiness. Often a child, thinking himself neg­lected, will try to attract the attention and affection of his family by pretending to be sick.

Carl Jung evolves a conception of the subconscious where the individual and the collective subconscious are two dis­tinct entities. The first includes all remote desires and memories, remnants of the child's personality. The second, however, penetrates into the recesses of the child's soul where the pictures and experiences of all times and genera­tions are stored. Jung says: "The collective subconscious is a vessel which contains all traces of the universal subconscious, all memories of archaic and mythological imagination—the noblest sentiments and discoveries, as well as the half-remem­bered trauma—hence it is the source of all human feelings, and of all creative impulses. The most precious of life's treas­ures are concealed here in their profundity."

In addition to Jung's types, the extrovert and the introvert, he distinguishes four fundamental mental functions: percep­tion, feeling, reason, and intuition. In regard to the degree of adaptability he lists the selfish, the sensitive, the reasoner, and the intuitive. The selfish person is involved in his own feelings and ideas; the sensitive is almost entirely dominated by the acuteness of his emotions. The reasoner weighs the world with his critical perception; and the intuitive foresees and prepares himself for future events and new potentialities. All four types can be either extrovert or introvert.

There are, however, characters whose moods change for no tangible reason. Certain temperaments tend to maintain alternating emotional states which make them see the world in contrasting lights, sometimes gay and full of hope, at other times, black and depressing. The source of their moods can­not be traced to pleasant or unpleasant happenings, but exists in the individual's basic tendency towards exaltation or mel­ancholy, indolence or emotional excitability. The neuras­thenic, the hysteric, the cicloid and the schizoid form the four divisions of this unstable type.

By neurasthenic we mean an individual who is governed by an irritable weakness in his nervous system. A state of weariness and exhaustion is typical of the neurasthenic, weak­ening his capacity for work through severe depressions. He attaches an hysterical importance to any slight ailment, be­lieving himself stricken with an incurable disease.

Sample 100. The soft, light and unequal script reveals the writer's deficient energy, feelings of insufficiency, and insta­bility of character. Some letters are broken back, while others slope to the right, disclosing his inward struggle against dis­quietude and repression, in contrast to his active impulses and states of exaltation, showing him to have a personality which fluctuates between lassitude and ardent desires. Some hesitant traits mirror hypochondria. This man's momentary activity is paralyzed by the recurring attacks of weariness and irresolution. His instability of will-power and affections is always surprising to everyone.

Sample 101. The light uneven pressure in the handwriting of this thirty-eight-year-old man indicates his latent, but at present controlled, neurasthenia. While the light and uneven pressure and very short lower loops reveal his extreme sexual apathy, we can observe his excitability, and sudden attacks of weariness and ill temper, expressed in the unequal traits and periodic pressure. He is very intelligent, well educated and versatile, but lacks courage and an optimistic drive.

Sample 102. This is the script of a thirty-year-old journal­ist. It reveals his gradually acquired sexual neurasthenia, while his heavy horizontal pressure shows an active tendency towards homosexuality. In spite of his well developed and aesthetic intellect, the script discloses his general feeling of despondency. The extreme contrast between his states of excitability and exhaustion are the consequences of his con­tinual struggle against what he pessimistically considers to be adverse conditions. His energetic interest in his work can vanish suddenly (we notice the angularity fading out into the thread). In such moments of weariness and exhaustion, any slight task, even the strain of having to talk, seems to be a greater trial than he can bear. The graphic signs of his lassi­tude and depression are the falling endings, and a sudden pressure on occasional strokes, which also reflects his irrita­bility. This kind of neurasthenia can be healed through complete rest, and especially by a thorough examination and renovation of the victim's thoughts and attitude.

The graphic signs of elation are a very large loose writing, with inflated loops and flourishes, and ascending lines. De­pression is expressed in hesitant writing, where the words dwindle away into thread-like finals, and descending lines and narrow loops. The tendency to weariness and fatigue appears in the very low i dots. Emotional excitability is ex­pressed in unequal letters, a sharpened angular style, and sud­den pressure on occasional strokes.

Sample 103. The handwriting of this woman discloses the expansive and very lively nature of a cicloid. Periods of in­creased energy and initiative are followed by days of discour­agement and depression. The large and loose writing re­veals her easy impressionability, and interest in the life about her. She reacts too readily and with violence to every stimu­lus of the external and internal worlds, while her moods change suddenly. The unequalness of the whole writing in­dicates her obvious nervous sensibility and emotional un­balance.

Sample 104. This is the writing of a pianist, a very sensi­tive musician of great genius who is, however, unstable and easily impressed. The swift and fluent writing, full of ro­mantic flourishes, mirrors his exaggerated feelings, speech, and action, as well as the richness of his ideas, and his great initiative and activity. The script reflects momentary de­pression which is expressed in the falling endings and sloping lines. His life has been depressingly full of adversity, and he feels discouraged at the present time, though he is generally affable, and courageously optimistic.

The beautiful and harmonious formation of his letters, together with the unusual word connection, reveals his intui­tion and creative vitality. In his happy moments, this artist creates with originality and imagination, though, at times, he may be too enthusiastic, and fired by too many ideas at one time as shown by the wavering basic line. He is affectionate, warm hearted, and gregarious. From periods of great activity he will suddenly relapse into weariness and melancholy. In such states of depression, he is unable to work, feels sad and disappointed, and even avoids all contact with his friends. Fortunately, however, these periods of melancholy and intro­spection do not last very long.

Sample 105. This handwriting is typical of a passively melancholy cicloid temperament. It is the writing of an un­reasonably pliant and impressionable woman. The falling endings and lines reflect her tendency to emphasize the dark and unfavorable periods of her life. The slow traits which slope backwards disclose her indolence and lack of initiative. Her pronoun / shows that she is totally involved in her petty interests, and while always discouraged and disappointed, is avidly interested in what other people think of her. She lacks the will-power to make the most of her life.

Samples 103, 104 and 105 show the strong, alternating tend­encies towards depression, passivity, and exaggerated en­thusiasm, which place their writers in the cicloid group.

The schizoid reacts entirely differently. While he may seem almost phlegmatic in his reactions to certain stimuli, he is surprisingly aroused by others. He harbors grudges for an abnormally long time, and his sour reticence keeps him from making friends. Through his brooding, he creates an electric state of nervous tension which suddenly explodes in a shower of unreasonable complaints and reproaches, creating a most difficult and alienating atmosphere.

Sample 106. The writing of this fifty-year-old woman re­veals her aesthetic nature. The narrow, angular style mirrors her unsociable character, while the light, uneven pressure shows her moody temperament. Although the rightward an­gle reveals her passionate feelings, the narrowness of her let­ters reflects her self-contained attitude. She dislikes close per­sonal contact, and prefers concealment to confidence. She is always in a state of tension, constantly reviewing her defeats and disappointments—those of many months ago or more re­cent times—until her feelings burst out in a violent display of temper and acid criticism. Irritability and sarcasm are re­vealed in her sharp, angular style and pointed endings. While she is a gifted musician and dancer, her long low loops reveal not only her well-disciplined coordination, but also her ma­teriality.

This script shows the contrast between her receptive sensi­bility and her cold reserve, between her brusque attitude and secret dreams. Her nature is distinctly split into halves, di­vided between her ego and the external world.

The pattern of the hysteric's vagaries differs with the personality involved. We will here discuss only those mani­festations which pertain to the hysterical character's incon­sistent state of mind, and not go into the pathological manifestations of true hysteria. While the latter's attacks interrupt a usually normal life, the more generally hysterical individual has an even distribution of his weaknesses in all his actions and reactions. Typical of the hysterical character is an exaggeration of emotion and enthusiasm, and a rapid transubstantiation of unfavorable occurrences into organic illness. Mental suffering is easily transformed into physical disturbances. In most cases, hysterical symptoms and various organic disturbances are the individual's only weapon by which he can threaten and eventually obtain a change in his environment.

The main symptoms of the hysterical character are extreme egotism, exhibitionism, and a superficial efficiency which conceal only average abilities. Added to these are un-truthfulness, secrecy, deception to one's self, as well as to others, extreme excitability, and a general instability.

Infantilism and arrested development are often based on major defects, as well as oversensibility of the nervous system, and a low sexual drive.

The handwriting of the hysterical character is composed of large movements of the pen, and is an artificial writing full of many futile flourishes which are a sign of theatricality. The confused, unequal traits, with their threadlike finals, indicate weakness of character; broken back strokes with large and involved letters mirror the exaggerated imagination which produces lies and dissimulation.

Sample 107. One glance at this sample is sufficient to reveal the artificial writing with futile flourishes, typical of the self-dramatization and pretension of an hysterical character, while the broad loops of such letters as d, I, or t, show the woman's intensely sensitive nature. The backward slopes symbolize her selfishness, and the loops of the / and t bars are conspicuous signs of her sybaritic and exhibitionistic nature.

The writer is a woman of thirty, whose one desire is to attract attention to herself, no matter what means she may have to employ. She complains of intense headaches, for which she consults many different kinds of doctors, but no one has succeeded in finding the cause of her complaints. When she feels disappointed or realizes that she must accom­plish an unpleasant and unselfish duty, she is immediately stricken with a migraine. She wants to be comforted and pampered and have the assurance that her family is worried about her, and in all ways must become the general center of attention. The inflated long lower loops, which are at times interlinked with other letters, reflect her materiality and her strong but confused and unrealized sexual desire.

Sample 108. This script of a sixty-year-old business man, written at a period of momentary depression, and therefore containing falling endings, is formed with large movements of the pen, and leftward flourishes. The somewhat childish forms lack originality, and mirror the man's hysterical tend­encies, while the loops and indolently formed letters, written with a minimum of pressure, substantiate these characteris­tics. The script contains protective pen movements in the words "vary and getting." The writer wants to patronize the members of his family and attract their attention and admira­tion, and even carries these drives outside of his family.

Sample 109. The uneven pressure and wide leftward flour­ishes reveal exaggeration of emotion and imagination in the handwriting of this thirty-year-old woman. The childish let­ters indicate the arrested development of an hysterical char­acter, while the dashes and flourishes, unnecessary additions to the letters themselves, symbolize her tendency to turn in­wards upon herself. This woman is constantly enthusiastic in her plans for innumerable business ventures, but is easily discouraged, and never accomplishes very much. The un-equalness of the small letters discloses her moods which change rapidly from inferiority to those of superiority.

From these different samples, we are able to draw a fairly comprehensive picture of the various feelings of the manifold states of mind which comprise the mysterious and compli­cated life of the supersensitives.

It is extremely hard to understand a human being. If teachers, parents, and psychologists can understand the mis­takes that are made in dealing with the child, and if they do not make the same mistakes themselves, we can be confident that society will come to offer a broader and more under­standing scope for all the individual's capacities.

A deeper and wiser comprehension of the different char­acter traits will prevent us from a hasty and superficial judgment. We need to encourage the child at the opportune moment, and, with patience and kindliness must try to over­come the shortcomings and deficiencies of his character. We can all be masters of our actions, taking responsibilities upon our own shoulders. If life is approached in this way, as a co­operative interrelation of independent personalities, we can see no limit to the progress of our human association.

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