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The frequency with which the word whirling and similar words (whirlall words) were used in Rorschach tests administered to 1154 medical students 20 to 35 years ago has been counted by computer. Subjects (now for the most part physicians in midlife) were assigned to different groups according to their health status as of December 1982. When the proportion of subjects using whirlall words was compared across health groupings, those in the suicide and other deaths groups had used the largest proportions of such words. Subjects were then divided into dead and living groups, and those in the total dead group showed a threefold greater frequency of whirlall words than did those in the living group, a highly significant difference (p less than 0.001). Also, the mean number of Rorschach responses was significantly higher for the dead group as compared with the living group (p less than 0.05) and for the major cancer group as compared with the healthy group (p less than 0.01).
Thomas et al. (Fri,) studied this question.