This study was conducted to examine the psychological characteristics of the schizophrenia (n = 20), bipolar disorder (n = 20) and depressive disorder (n = 13) patients on MMPI-2 and Rorschach responses.

MMPI-2 and Rorschach was individually administered to all patients, and their Rorschach responses were scored by Exner's comprehensive scoring system. The means of T scores of MMPI-2 subscales and Rorschach scores were compared among the three groups.

The schizophrenic and bipolar disorder groups showed significantly higher scores on the MMPI-2 K scale than the depressive group, while the depressive group showed significantly higher score on MMPI-2 Si scale than the schizophrenic and bipolar groups. In Rorschach responses, the bipolar and depressive groups obtained significantly higher scores on two variables (FM + m, m) than the schizophrenic group. The bipolar group obtained significantly higher scores on three variables (es, CP, a), suggesting hyperactivity and mood dysregulation.

These results suggested that patients with depressive disorder might subjectively suffer from more severe emotional and social discomfort than patients with the schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, while patients with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia would be more defensive than the depressive patients.

The author has not supplied his/her declaration of competing interest.