Art Therapy and Brain Dysfunction in a Patient with a Dementing Illness

The clinical course of a patient whose dementing illness defied DSM III (APA, 1980) diagnostic labeling is followed. Through the patient's art therapy work, the author attempts to corroborate the patient's behavior and performance with clinical and medical tests. This information is then related to present-day knowledge of brain dysfunction and impairment and to the autopsy findings. Art therapy served a special role for the patient, providing him with self-esteem, grounding, and boundaries, as well as with an emotional outlet and means of communicating the realities of his disease. While his well-drawn houses somewhat disguise his impairments, his drawings of people clearly illustrate aspects of the organic disease—regression, depression, and psychotic ideation.