The British Journal of Psychiatry (2005) 187: A10
© 2005 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
Psychiatry in pictures
EDITED BY ALLAN BEVERIDGE
Do you have an image, preferably accompanied by 100 to 200 words of
explanatory text, that you think would be suitable for Psychiatry in Pictures?
Submissions are very welcome and should be sent direct to Dr Allan Beveridge,
Queen Margaret Hospital, Whitefield Road, Dunfermline, Fife KY12 0SU, UK.
A 14-year-old boy, of normal IQ and with mild spina bifida, was referred
for assessment because of deteriorating school function and increasing
isolation and withdrawal. It was thought that these problems were related to
his parents’ marital difficulties and subsequent separation. He
initially denied any problems and suggested, toward the end of the second
session, that perhaps it had not been necessary for him to come to treatment
as he was feeling much better. Somewhat perplexed, the therapist asked him to
draw a picture. In about 10 minutes the young man completed a drawing of an
intensely distressed, incomplete person (above left), that was totally at odds
with his seeming equanimity. The therapist then expressed an interest in
seeing any other drawings that the boy had done previously. The drawing
produced at the next session (above right) had been composed about 6 months
earlier and expressed an important theme that hitherto had not been identified
– his spinal defect and feelings of incompleteness. From then on over
the course of therapy he produced a series of 20 drawings (a selection of
which will be published in next month’s ‘Psychiatry in
pictures’) that allowed the therapist a unique avenue of access to his
intense core concerns.
