The HIT clinical profile of psychedelic drug users

Forty-three psychedelic drug users and 39 non-drug users matched by age, sex, and amount of education, were given the Holtzman Inkblot Technique (HIT). Scores were plotted on the HIT Clinical Profile Sheet. Psychedelic drug users scored significantly higher on Movement, Human Abstract, Color, Hostility, Pathognomic Verbalization, and Sex. Cluster analysis of HIT variables showed that reality contact was adequate for both groups. Drug users were shown to be more actively imaginative, to demonstrate a greater capacity for empathy, to fantasize more, and are more likely to act-out their feelings and possess more unconscious hostility. Although drug users gave a greater number of deviant responses, profile analysis contraindicates evidence of psychopathology. In general, the drug users were significantly more inner-directed than the non-users. It was found that plotting mean scores on the HIT Clinical Profile Sheet without statistical analyses does not accurately reflect the degree of differences between groups of subjects.