Alexithymia, the inability to recognize, identify and describe your own emotions, is a condition that affects millions of people and has been linked to a host of other health problems. People with alexithymia typically display a lack of imaginative thought, have difficulty distinguishing between emotions and bodily sensations, and engage in logical externally oriented thought. Mean hdrs scores of exp and cbt groups were lower than sup group at the end. This book is definitely one where you simply cannot read fast enough and find yourself wanting to book a ticket to the wondrous world of alexithymia. Are mood and anxiety disorders and alexithymia associated. Written in accessible language, this book is ideal both for professionals and for anyone with an interest in the subject. Alexithymia definition of alexithymia by the free dictionary. Request pdf definition of alexithymia alexithymia comprises both a cognitive and an. The alexithymia construct was originally conceptualized by nemiah, freyberger, and sifneos 1976 as encompassing a cluster of cognitive traits including difficulty identifying feelings, difficulty describing feelings to others, externally oriented thinking, and a limited imaginal capacity. Alexithymia, is a clinical term for the inability to understand the intricacies of feelings and emotions. Simply put, alexithymia is a disorder where the individual struggles to name their emotions. Alexithymia, emotion, and somatic complaints request pdf.
The psychiatric syndrome is prevalent in patients with psychosomatic problems, substance abuse, and anxiety disorders, but alexithymic symptoms occur along a continuum. Alexithymia is encouraged by medical education 17 as a part of the heroic caring stereotype. Alexithymia refers to people who have difficulty identifying and describing emotions as well as differentiating between physical and emotional sensations. Its not that they dont want to its more that they dont.
Low expressiveness was found to be predictive of a high level of alexithymia with kench and irwin 2000 positing that the ability to express emotions atrophies as it is not being encoura. As a result, they struggle with interpersonal relationships as well as forming social attachments. While autism has been shown to be associated with a deficit in perspective taking cognitive empathy, it is much less clear to what degree individuals with asd also experience deficits in affective empathy. Its not a formal diagnosis, but a way of describing a common set of experiences related to emotional dysfunction. Alexithymia article about alexithymia by the free dictionary.
Alexithymia is a personality characteristic in which the individual is unable to identify and describe their emotions. Sometimes i work with children and adults who cant put words to their feelings and thoughts. Constructing a self in the twilight of western culture, is available from praeger publishers. Taking the alexithymia questionnaire musings of an aspie. Overall, research shows that alexithymia is associated with low levels of positive wellbeing. Apr 06, 2020 alexithymia is a maladaptive psychological disorder characterized by the inability to identify and verbally describe emotions and feelings in oneself as well as in others. Jul 17, 2018 alexithymia is a personality construct characterized by altered emotional awareness which has been gaining diagnostic prevalence in a range of neuropsychiatric disorders, with notably high rates of overlap with autism spectrum disorder asd. Definition of alexithymia request pdf researchgate.
Mood, definition, state, disorder, dysthymia, and more. The dimensions of emotional intelligence, alexithymia, and. Implications for understanding and treating health problems two brief cases mr. It is associated with depression onset and severity in younger adults, but researchers have not yet examined the association between alexithymia and depression severity in clinically depressed older adults. Alexithymia is not classified as a mental disorder in dsm5. Alexithymia is a subclinical phenomenon involving a lack of emotional awareness or, more specifically, difficulty in identifying and describing feelings. Alexithymia was screened using the 20item version of the toronto alexithymia scale. The main feature of alexithymia is an emotional unawareness, lack of social attachment, and poor interpersonal relating. Depression is strongly associated with alexithymia in the. Alexithymia is a subclinical phenomenon involving a lack of emotional awareness or, more specifically, difficulty in identifying and describing feelings and in distinguishing feelings from the bodily sensations of emotional arousal nemiah et al. Llevel of depression was assessed using the 21item beck depression inventory bdi.
In brief, alexithymia is the inability to talk about feelings due to a lack of emotional awareness. Alexithymia is a trait that makes it hard to find words for thoughts and feelings. This patient was a good example of someone with alexithymia. Other studies identified alexithymia in 63% of anorexics, 56% of bulimics, and as many as 50% of those struggling with a major depressive disorder. This study examined the different facets of emotional intelligence, alexithymia, and mood awareness. Feb 14, 2019 the book is so simple and easy to use, no overcomplicated text that baffles you, just straightforward explanations of all kinds of different emotions and feelings, that will work, like the cards, in both a personal or professional setting. Alexithymia is the inability to express emotions or to understand others emotions.
A recent study of vietnam veterans with ptsd revealed that over 40% were alexithymic. Imagine not being able to understand your own emotions or other peoples. This mental disorder affects more people than you think. Apr 03, 2014 the emotional blindness of alexithymia. Life satisfaction was estimated with a structured scale.
Alexithymia medical definition merriamwebster medical. Dictionary grammar blog school scrabble thesaurus translator quiz more resources more from collins. Once internalized, alexithymia has longterm consequences, such as psychological distress 18, depression, emotional exhaustion and depersonalization 19,20, as well as a higher risk of psychosomatic symptoms 15, with low chances of recovery. Alexithymia definition of alexithymia by medical dictionary. Sadly, this disease makes people very limited when it comes to leading a normal social and emotional life. The relevant literature presents conflicting results related to alexithymia effect on. The word literally means no words for emotion, and comes from the greek a for lack lexis for word and thymia for emotion. Alexithymia is a trait that is found in varying degrees across a panorama of psychiatric disorders. Depression is the most frequent type of mood disorders. I am autistic as well as alexithymic, id have to say it affects relationships negatively in my particular case. The core characteristics of alexithymia are marked dysfunction in emotional awareness, social attachment, and interpersonal relating.
Constructing a self in the twilight of western culture, is available. Alexithymia is a maladaptive psychological disorder characterized by the inability to identify and verbally describe emotions and feelings in oneself as well as in others. Alexithymia is a personal trait characterized by the subclinical inability to identify and describe emotions experienced by ones self or others. May 31, 2017 i have found that painting, writing, singing, and dancing help me to make me feel better, or at least help me find what im trying to say. Jul 27, 20 the ability to process emotions is normally distributed in the population and high scores on measures of alexithymia may represent the lower end of this ability.
A preliminary study comprising 37 italian patients with surgically confirmed endometriosis and 43 controls, without clinical and ultrasound signs of endometriosis, was carried out. The alexithymia questionnaires used in clinical research tas20, bvaq arent available online, so i took the online alexithymia questionnaire oaqg2. Jan 01, 2008 alexithymia is an inability to identify and describe both ones own, and other peoples emotions. The instrument that is most frequently used to measure alexithymia is the 20item toronto alexithymia scale tas20, a selfreport questionnaire. Individuals with high levels of alexithymia are usually aware of their emotional arousal. Alexithymia literally means a lack of words for feelings.
Low expressiveness was found to be predictive of a high level of alexithymia with kench and irwin 2000 positing that the ability to express emotions atrophies as it is not being encouraged. Alexithymia is an emotionprocessing condition that leads to difficulties recognizing or reacting to emotions both in oneself and others, but symptoms of alexithymia are not as pronounced as. The book provides details of the diagnostic tests available and includes an informal questionnaire, developed by the author, for people who believe they may have alexithymia. When asked to describe their feelings, they cannot. The ability to process emotions is normally distributed in the population and high scores on measures of alexithymia may represent the lower end of this ability. I have found that painting, writing, singing, and dancing help me to make me feel better, or at least help me find what im trying to say. People who experience alexithymia are unable to recognize emotions and their subtleties and to understand or describe thoughts and feelings. The loneliness of alexithymia personality disorders. Therefore these additional characteristics should not be considered core components of alexithymia. Alexithymia is also understood to have two components. Alexithymia, which can be briefly described as a personality trait characterized by difficulties in identifying and describing emotions experienced by ones self and others sifneos, 1973, has.
The first mention of alexithymic traits occurred in peter sifneoss book shortterm psychotherapy and emotional crisis harvard university press, 1972. Alexithymia, by definition, involves difficulties in identifying and describing emotions and has been assumed to be associated with somatization i. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Affective deprivation disorder and alexithymia in marriage. Does alexithymia apply to physical sensations as well. Alexithymia was originally defined as the inability to recognize and verbalize emotions, and has since been characterized as an emptiness of feelings, a poverty of imagination or of a fantasy life, difficulties in communicating with other people, as well as a lack of positive emotions and a high prevalence of negative emotions. Motivation and emotionbook2015alexithymia wikiversity.
This week for takeatest tuesday were taking the online alexithymia questionnaire. And the book will also suit both children and adults. It is experienced by both children and adults and can come in mild, moderate and severe forms. Alexithymia is a personality construct characterized by altered emotional awareness which has been gaining diagnostic prevalence in a range of neuropsychiatric disorders, with notably high rates of overlap with autism spectrum disorder asd. Translated, the term alexithymia literally means a lack a of words lexi for. It is present in about 10 percent of people, and some studies find that it is twice as common in males, while others find more equal rates across gender. Affective deprivation disorder afdd is a relational disorder resulting from the emotional deprivation sometimes experienced by the partner or child of persons with a low emotionalempathic quotient or alexithymia. Frontiers alexithymia and autism spectrum disorder. Alexithymia is a characteristic style of thinking and feeling involving deficits in the recognition of emotions. The emotional blindness of alexithymia scientific american. Learn everything you need to know about alexithymia and how it affects your relationships.
Alexithymia is an inability to identify and describe both ones own, and other peoples emotions. However, if youre experiencing alexithymia you may be in the rumble stage of a meltdown, and its important for you to make sure that you dont get overwhelmed by trying to figure out what your emotions are. This impairment in emotion recognition and regulation is often associated with low. Alexithymia is not a disorder, but is seen as a trait. Moreover, they argue with regard to practicality that the bvaq contains forty items and it takes a long time to complete. The existence and study of alexithymic experiences started in the 1970s. Alexithymia is when a person has difficulty identifying and expressing emotions. But it only took one nonnormal moment to change that. Alexithymia is a personal trait characterized by the subclinical inability to identify and describe.
Alexithymia definition and meaning collins english. Urban dictionary and our advertising partners set cookies on your computer to improve our site and the advertisements you see. The literal meaning of alexithymia is no words for mood. The book provides details of diagnostic tests available and includes an informal questionnaire, developed by the author, for people who believe they may have alexithymia. Alexithymics are typically unable to identify, understand or describe their own emotions, and the construct of alexithymia refers to some of the chief. The aim of this preliminary study was to determine whether psychiatric disorders, psychopathological symptoms, and alexithymia are associated with endometriosis in an italian population. People with alexithymia may have problems maintaining relationships and taking. Alexithymia definition, difficulty in experiencing, expressing, and describing emotional responses. Alexithymia is a story where two people under normal circumstances should never have met. My last boyfriend described me as a closed book see, if i cant read my own o.
It is estimated that one in seven people in the world suffers alexithymia to some extent. If depression is on one end of the bipolar disorder continuum and mania is at the other end. However, the nature of its role in asd symptomatology remains elusive. Aug 29, 2018 one way of understanding a euthymic mood is to think of it in terms of the severity of the symptoms. Alexithymics are typically unable to identify, understand or describe their own emotions, and the construct of alexithymia refers to some of the chief manifestations of this deficit in emotional functioning. Although individuals with alexithymia display the typical physical responses associated with emotions such as tears, butterflies in the stomach or an increased heart rate they are unable to recognize these responses in terms of the emotions they might be signifying.
It is associated with depression onset and severity in younger adults, but researchers have not yet examined the association between alexithymia. Identify and explore 100 moods and emotions mood series 1st by andrea harrn, stacey siddons, stacey siddons isbn. Undergraduate students n 129 completed the trait metamood scale tmms, the toronto alexithymia scale tas20, and the mood awareness scale mas. Muller works for the crisis intervention service at union memorial hospital in baltimore. Alexithymia is a personality trait in which an individual is unable to identify and describe the emotions they are feeling sifneos, 1973. The term was coined as an adjective, to describe certain patients with a broad range of common characteristics which sifneos describes below. Overall, research shows that alexithymia is associated with low levels of positive wellbeing, including low levels of happiness and life satisfaction. The root of the word emotion means to move, or to stir up. Alexithymia literally no words for feelings refers to a persons inability to identify or verbally describe his or her feelings. Alexithymia is considered to be a personality trait that places individuals at risk for other medical and psychiatric disorders while reducing the likelihood that these individuals will respond to conventional treatments for the other conditions. Includes questions on topics that are not a part of generally accepted alexithymia definition.