[Personality study of lung cancer patients]

Formerly the authors had studied the personality profiles of a sample of chronic patients, using the Rorschach psychodiagnostic method. They had found a set of Rorschach types which were closely associated with the presence of lung- cancer in the patients. This set was called by the authors a syndrome reflecting an overpowering, but latent, unconscious sense of crisis, of a catastrophe ("Catastrophe-syndrome"). The present study was set up and carried out to control and validate this finding and to establish its diagnostic value. The following groups of patients were investigated with the Rorschach test: 125 patients with lung-cancer/verified by biopsy/25 patients suspected, but not verified, lung-cancer, 50 patients with chronic tuberculosis. For control purposes, the authors have investigated 50 healthy individuals, watched with age and socioeconomic status to the patients. The study obtained the same result, the Rorschach syndrome (31 syndrome signs) was found more frequently in the lung-cancer patients, 17 signs were associated with lung-cancer significantly more frequent. This finding can be considered as a contribution to the study of the personality characteristics of the lung-cancer patients. Although this syndrome can not be held for specific for cancer only, it can give some aid in the differential diagnosis of the patients with suspect lung-cancer. This is supported by the clinical experience of the authors in the last few years.