PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS

      This sign shows pessimism, despondancy, or lack of energy. If lines fall sharply, depression or tiredness is indicated. Downhill baselines may be temporary or permanent and several writing samples should be checked to ascertain this. Check for physical illness. Such a writer may commit a crime out of desperation or because he feels defeated and that there is nowhere to turn.

Note: This is not, by itself, a sign of suicidal thinking.

STROKE DESCRIPTION

      Writing lines (either individual words or entire lines) run downhill.

Examples:



Reinhard Heydrich: (1904-1942) "The Hangman," Nazi Administrator.



Ernest Hemingway: (1899-1961) American writer and journalist, famous for "Whom the Bell Tolls," "Old Man and the Sea," etc. Committed suicide.



David Duke: Republican presidential hopeful. Former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. Had considerable plastic surgery before embarking on his presidential campaign.

Downhill Baseline