Alexithymia

Nemiah, John C.

doi:10.1159/000287064

Cited by 242 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Alexithymia may now be measured as a valid and reliable clinical phenomenon (Nemiah, 1996(Nemiah, , 1977. It is interesting that the description of Alexithymia focusing on aetiology and treatment all are similar to the literature on Asperger's syndrome.…”

mentioning

confidence: 97%

The Overlap Between Alexithymia and Asperger’s Syndrome

Fitzgerald

Bellgrove

2006

J Autism Dev Disord

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confidence: 97%

The Overlap Between Alexithymia and Asperger’s Syndrome

Fitzgerald

Bellgrove

2006

J Autism Dev Disord

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“…Before discussing some factors that influence how individuals might respond to emotionally stressful events, let me briefly review some current ideas about the cognitive processing of emotion, or what Nemiah [4] referred to as the ‘ psychic elaboration’ of the somatic components of affect.…”

Section: A Basic Conceptual Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recognizing that affects have both biologic and psychologic components, they defined emotion as the neurophysiological and motor-expressive component, and feelings as the subjective, cognitive-experiential aspect. They considered affect a more general term that includes both components, and indicated that emotions have to be represented mentally to be experienced consciously as feelings [4,10,11]. In their view, an awareness of feelings, together with the thoughts, fantasies, and memories they elicit, facilitates modulation of the emotional arousal induced by stressful events.…”

Section: The Cognitive Processing Of Emotionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The concept of mentalized affectivity encompasses Nemiah’s [4] conceptualization of the elements involved in the ‘ psychic elaboration’ of the somatic emotional response to an affect-provoking event. The elements include: ‘(1) a refinement and delineation of the raw emotion into a variety of qualitatively different nuances that have the potential for conscious experience as feelings (e.g.…”

Section: Alexithymia and Mentalizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nemiah [3,4,5,6] was particularly interested in the impact of emotionally traumatic events on mental and bodily processes and in conceptualizing the psychological defenses and deficits that contribute to the development of psychological and somatic symptoms. He gave special importance to the ego defense mechanism of dissociation and also to deficits in emotional awareness and the imaginal capacity, for which Sifneos [7] coined the term alexithymia .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Affects, Trauma, and Mechanisms of Symptom Formation: A Tribute to John C. Nemiah, MD (1918–2009)

Taylor¹

2010

Psychother Psychosom

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John Nemiah was interested in the impact of emotionally traumatic events on mental and bodily processes and in conceptualizing the psychological defenses and deficits that contribute to the development of psychological and somatic symptoms. He viewed dissociation as the central psychological mechanism in the formation of a spectrum of symptoms, and conceptualized alexithymia as a deficit in the cognitive processing of emotion such that stress-induced arousal could bypass the psyche and produce somatic symptoms. This article briefly reviews some of Nemiah’s conceptual ideas and relates them to several new theories and concepts and findings from empirical research. His concept of the ‘psychic elaboration’ of emotion is consistent with contemporary theories of the cognitive processing of emotions that emphasize the importance of imagery and linguistic symbolizations. Alexithymia is inversely related to mentalization and is associated with insecure attachment styles and emotional trauma, which influence the capacity to regulate affects induced by stressful events. A multiple code theory of emotional information processing links psychological and somatic symptoms to various degrees of dissociation within and between the elements comprising emotion schemas and to compensatory attempts at repair. Recent studies support Nemiah’s view that alexithymia and intrapsychic conflicts may both contribute to the pathogenesis of panic attacks. There is also substantial evidence of an association between childhood trauma and the development of somatic disease in adult life. Secure attachments and well-developed capacities for symbolization and affect regulation seem to render individuals more resilient to the traumas and stressful events of everyday life.

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The Injured Self, Addiction, and Our Call to Medicine

Khantzian¹

1985

JAMA

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Alexithymia

Cited by 242 publications

References 2 publications

The Overlap Between Alexithymia and Asperger’s Syndrome

The Overlap Between Alexithymia and Asperger’s Syndrome

Affects, Trauma, and Mechanisms of Symptom Formation: A Tribute to John C. Nemiah, MD (1918–2009)

The Injured Self, Addiction, and Our Call to Medicine

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