Unconscious dynamics in twin pregnancy emerging from the Lüscher color test

Color Choice Preference in Cognitively Impaired Patients: A Look Inside Alzheimer's Disease Through the Use of Lüscher Color Diagnostic

Objective

To study the emotional state of cognitively impaired patients through the color choice preference in a group of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and compare it with a group of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) patients and a matched control group.

Methods

A total of 71 AD, 50 MCI and 68 controls were consecutively evaluated. All patients and controls underwent the Mini Mental State Evaluation (MMSE) and the Lüscher color test.

Results

Cognitively impaired patients mainly chose auxiliary colors, in particular violet and brown, and rejected black and gray. AD patients predominantly chose forms corresponding to auxiliary colors. The auxiliary color choice negatively correlated with the MMSE score. MCI patients and controls had a higher presence of anxiety on gray table and controls had higher frustration and ambivalence, i.e., psychic complexity, on basic color tables.Data globally suggest that AD patients live with a feeling of personal change due to instability and emotional insecurity, experiencing physical discomfort and a bodily need of being welcomed in a favorable environment. They aspire to a sensitive understanding by someone with whom they can be identified. Differently, MCI patients have less of these needs; however, they feel more anxious.

Conclusion

The comprehension of the inner emotional state of cognitively impaired patients allows us to better communicate with them and effectively approach their behavioral disorders. Like other projective techniques, such as the tree-drawing test and the human figure-drawing test, Lüscher color test is proposed as a simple and unconventional approach to understand the emotional life of AD patients. The awareness of clinicians about the existential fragility and insecurity of such type of patients allows us not only to better manage their behavioral disturbances but also to improve their quality of life and that of their caregivers.

The interaction of personality profile and lactation differs between mothers of late preterm and term neonates

Late preterm birth, a rapidly growing segment of premature deliveries, has the potential to cause deleterious effects on women's psycho-emotional experience of labor and the establishment of successful lactation. We compared personality traits by the Lüscher Color Test, the mother-to-infant bonding attitudes by the Mother-to-Infant Bonding Scale (MIBS) and lactation outcome, between mothers of late preterm and at term infants. Our results indicated that mothers idealize their condition and wish to enjoy this magic and extraordinary time in spite of feeling stressed. However, late preterm mothers feel too sad and distressed to relax in their own space after the premature birth event. In addition, their total MIBS score (mean ± SD) was significantly higher (1.364 versus 0.581; p 0.026), as related subscales: Dislike (p 0.005) and Disappointed (p 0.012). Finally, they significantly reduced breastfeeding rates from discharge (p < 0.0001), to the first (p < 0.001), the third (p = 0.002) and sixth postnatal month (p = 0.0002). We concluded that there is a relation between unconscious deep stress along with bonding limits of late preterm new mothers and impaired breastfeeding initiation and duration.