What your handwriting says about YOUR health: From heart disease to mental issues - a flick of the pen contains all the clues you need
Handwriting is unique to each individual person.
And according to experts that study the incredibly personal trait, it could contain clues about your health.
Researchers claim that small details in the way you write can show if you have a number of ailments including high blood pressure, Alzheimer’s, schizophrenia, and Parkinson’s disease.
In fact, handwriting analysis - also known as graphology - can detect more than 5,000 personality traits from the sizes and shapes of your letters, as well as the spacing between words.
Here we explain how you could analyze your own scribe.
The step-by-step guide has been compiled in an infographic by the National Pen Company.
Writing with variable pressure - especially going back and forth between dark and light handwriting - could be an indicator of high blood pressure.
When you have Alzheimer's disease, your mental faculties deteriorate as does your handwriting. Handwriting that is irregular or has trembles in the lettering could be an indication of the disorder. Writing will also slow down.
If letters in the same sentence are frequently slanting in different directions, this could be a sign of schizophrenia.
Parkinson's disease can also be detected in handwriting, researchers say. Very small or cramped writing, to the point where the letters are so small that even the writer can't read them, is an indicator.
Additionally, your handwriting can determine how high your energy levels are, especially if the writing appears dark or shows through to the back of the paper.
Those who lack energy or are tired write with light pressure.
The National Pen Company also looked at other variables to study different personality traits, including how your dot your i's, cross your t's, loop your l's, sign your name and even the spacing between your words.
It can determine if you are an outgoing, people-orientated person, shy and withdrawn, or well-adjusted and adaptable.
For example, wide spaces between your words means you enjoy freedom whereas narrow spacing means you don't like being alone.
Handwriting is seen as 'an avenue for both self-awareness and a tool for vocational direction, relationship compatibility, personnel selection, counseling, law, and psychological testing,' according to the American Handwriting Association.
Scientists also believe studying handwriting can detect disturbances in neuromuscular coordination because handwriting is a message from the brain as nerve impulses travel down the arm.
Additionally, it gives an unbiased description of the personality and behavior of a person.
Critics of graphology call it a pseudoscience as there are doubts surrounding the accuracy of identifying physical and mental health problems.
Yet is it still used by some employers during recruitment processes and is also used in court cases.
Other studies have looked at the benefits of handwriting over typing.
Those who take notes with a pen and paper as opposed to a laptop are likely to have a more effective memory recall, sharpened critical thinking, and a stronger conceptual understanding.
WHAT YOUR HANDWRITING COULD SAY ABOUT YOU:
Size and spacing
The size of your letters could be an indicator of the size of your personality.
Large letters suggest you are very outgoing and love a lot of attention. But it can also mean that you pretending to have a lot of confidence.
Writing with small letters means that you are shy or withdrawn while average letters usually indicate someone who is well-adjusted and can easily adapt.
The spacing of your words correlates to your relationships with other people.
Wide spacing between words means you're someone enjoys freedom and doesn't like being crowded, while narrow spacing indicates someone who can't stand to be and enjoys crowding.
Slant and shape
If your writing is straight up and down, you are someone who doesn't let your emotions get the best of you.
However, slanted writers are more expressive people. Writing that slants to the right means you are probably open to new experiences and meeting people.
Writing that slants to the left determine people who tend to keep to themselves and prefer not to be the center of attention.
The shapes of your letters are also additional indicators.
Rounded letters designate creative and artistic individuals while pointed letters show people who are more aggressive and intense.
If the letters connect, it means the writer is logical and systematic in their decision making, just like those who write without a slant.
Loop-the-loop
How you loop your letters indicate your level of comfortability.
Writers who loop their letters wide are relaxed and spontaneous and often enjoy trying new things.
Those who have more narrow loops tend to be restricted and are skeptical of others.
Dot your i's and cross your t's
How you finish your letters - also known as crossing your t's and dotting your i's - are further personality indicators.
Those who have high dots or dots that are circles have great imaginations, almost child-like.
Slashes as opposed to dots show someone who is overly self-critical and doesn't have patience for inadequacy.
Dotting your 'i' right over the letter shows someone who is detail-oriented while to the left of the 'i' indicates a procrastinator.
Someone who has long crosses over their 't's' is very determined while short crosses indicate just the opposite.
Crossing the 't' either at the top or in the middle are both indicators of people who have good self-esteem and are confident.
Put your John Hancock on the dotted line
Someone who has an illegible signature usually indicates someone who is a private person and is hard to read or understand.
Past studies have indicated that people with illegible signatures are more likely to be arrogant as well.
Meanwhile those who have legible signatures are more likely to be confident and comfortable and are more open.
Heavy or light
People who write with heavy pressure take things seriously, but excessively heavy pressure can indicate uptightness and a poor reaction to criticism.
Those with light pressure as they write are sensitive but lack vitality, or energy.
The speed at which you write is an indicator of your patience. Writing quickly indicates a dislike of delays while writing slowly someone who is more organized and methodical
Writing inside the lines
Where you write on the page could be a mark of how you relate to your experiences.
Writing on the left hand margin indicates someone who tends to live in the past and can't let go.
Words that tend to be all over the page are a sign of someone whose mind is constantly working and can't sit still.
Right hand margin writers show people who fear the unknown and worry abut the future.
Article Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4176286/What-handwriting-says-health.html
Image Source: https://assets.entrepreneur.com/content/16x9/822/20150416190902-handwriting-reveal-confidence-creativity-health.jpeg
VOCABULARY WORDS:
1. Scribe (v.) ~ write
2. Deteriorate (v.) ~ become progressively worse
3. Cramped (adj.) ~ feeling or causing someone to feel uncomfortably confined or hemmed in by lack of space
4. Unbiased (adj.) ~ showing no prejudice for or against something impartial
5. Pseudoscience (n.) ~ a collection of beliefs or practices mistakenly regarded as being based on scientific method
6. Slant (adj.) ~ slope or lean in a particular direction diverge or cause to diverge from the vertical or horizontal.
7. Illegible (adj.) ~ not clear enough to be read
8. Methodical (adj.) ~ done according to a systematic or established form of procedure
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
1. What is graphology?
2. Do you think that a personality test based on a person's handwriting is reliable? Discuss your opinion.
3. Describe your handwriting. According to the article, are you in danger of any health risks?
4. Based on the given information, what kind of personality do you have? Is it accurate or not?
