Is Alexithymia Associated with Specific Mental Disorders

Leweke, Frank; Leichsenring, Falk; Kruse, Johannes; Hermes, Sandra

doi:10.1159/000325170

Cited by 178 publications

(122 citation statements)

References 85 publications

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“…The association of alexithymia with anxiety and depression has been confirmed by other studies as well, while its relationship with depression has also been referred as alexithymic depression. 23,24 Moreover, according to Kim and colleagues, alexithymic patients with depression are in a higher risk of developing even more severe depressive symptoms, as well as phobic symptoms. 25 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychopathology and alexithymia in patients with psoriasis

Κορκολιάκου

Efstathiou

Giannopoulou

et al. 2017

An. Bras. Dermatol.

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BackgroundPsoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory, relapsing skin disease that has a psychosocial impact on the patients' life.ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate psychopathology in patients with psoriasis based on a valid psychometric instrument, as well as on the relationship between psychopathology and alexithymia.Methods108 patients with psoriasis were included in the study. Psychopathology was evaluated with the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) and alexithymia with the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Disease severity was clinically assessed using the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index.ResultsAs regards the psychopathological dimensions, female patients presented with statistically significant higher somatization, depression, anxiety, phobic anxiety, and psychoticism than males. Patients with alexithymia presented with statistically significant higher somatization, interpersonal sensitivity, anxiety, and phobic anxiety than non-alexithymic patients. Alexithymia positively correlated with somatization (r = 0.26, p < 0.01), interpersonal sensitivity (r = 0.24, p < 0.05), depression (r = 0.27, p < 0.01), anxiety (r = 0.26, p < 0.01), and phobic anxiety (r = 0.26, p < 0.01). In addition, alexithymia also contributed to the prediction of these conditions.Study LimitationsA larger study sample could yield safer generalized results. Nevertheless, to the best of our knowledge, this was the first study to investigate various psychopathological dimensions in patients with psoriasis.ConclusionsOur study results indicate that alexithymia and female sex were associated with several psychopathological dimensions in patients with psoriasis. It may be suggested that alexithymia constitutes an important factor in the development of mental disorders among patients with psoriasis.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychopathology and alexithymia in patients with psoriasis

Κορκολιάκου

Efstathiou

Giannopoulou

et al. 2017

An. Bras. Dermatol.

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“…Although alexithymia is considered a vulnerability factor for mental illness, it is still under debate whether it is associated with the development of specific mental disorders. Recently, Leweke found that alexithymia was strongly associated with depressive and anxiety disorders (Leweke et al, 2012). Our results showed that alexithymia was related to anxiety (the higher alexithymic traits, the higher the anxiety symptoms), but we did not find any correlation between alexithymia and depressive symptoms.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alexithymia, anger and psychological distress in patients with myofascial pain: a case-control study

Castelli¹,

Santis²,

Giorgi³

et al. 2013

Front. Psychol.

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Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate psychological distress, anger and alexithymia in a group of patients affected by myofascial pain (MP) in the facial region.Methods: 45 MP patients [mean (SD) age: 38.9 (11.6)] and 45 female healthy controls [mean (SD) age: 37.8 (13.7)] were assessed medically and psychologically. The medically evaluation consisted of muscle palpation of the pericranial and cervical muscles. The psychological evaluation included the assessment of depression (Beck Depression Inventory—short form), anxiety [State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Form Y (STAI-Y)], emotional distress [Distress Thermometer (DT)], anger [State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory—2 (STAXI-2)], and alexithymia [Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS)].Results: the MP patients showed significantly higher scores in the depression, anxiety and emotional distress inventories. With regard to anger, only the Anger Expression-In scale showed a significant difference between the groups, with higher scores for the MP patients. In addition, the MP patients showed significantly higher alexithymic scores, in particular in the Difficulty in identifying feelings (F1) subscale of the TAS-20. Alexithymia was positively correlated with the Anger Expression-In scale. Both anger and alexithymia showed significant positive correlations with anxiety scores, but only anger was positively correlated with depression.Conclusion: A higher prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms associated with a higher prevalence of alexithymia and expression-in modality to cope with anger was found in the MP patients. Because the presence of such psychological aspects could contribute to generate or exacerbate the suffering of these patients, our results highlight the need to include accurate investigation of psychological aspects in MP patients in normal clinical practice in order to allow clinicians to carry out more efficacious management and treatment strategies.

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“…And the prevalence of alexithymia varied, ranging from 32 to 46% 8,9,31,47. Recently, Leweke et al48 demonstrated a significantly increased proportion of alexithymic patients in depressive disorders (26.9%), as compared to other diagnostic groups and suggested that high levels of alexithymia in depressive patients may be an expression of the negative view of the self or may indicate emotional numbness.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Comparative Study on Alexithymia in Depressive, Somatoform, Anxiety, and Psychotic Disorders among Koreans

Son

Jo²,

Rim

et al. 2012

Psychiatry Investig

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ObjectiveLittle is known about the characteristic differences in alexithymic construct in various psychiatric disorders because of a paucity of direct comparisons between psychiatric disorders. Therefore, this study explored disorder-related differences in alexithymic characteristics among Korean patients diagnosed with four major psychiatric disorders (n=388).MethodsAlexithymic tendencies, as measured by the Korean version of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20K), of patients classified into four groups according to major psychiatric diagnosis were compared. The groups consisted of patients with depressive disorders (DP; n=125), somatoform disorders (SM; n=78), anxiety disorders (AX; n=117), and psychotic disorders (PS; n=68).ResultsWe found that substantial portions of patients in all groups were classified as having alexithymia and no statistical intergroup differences emerged (42.4%, 35.9%, 35.3%, and 33.3% for DP, SM, PS, and AX). However, patients with DP obtained higher scores in factor 2 (difficulties describing feelings) than those with SM or AX, after adjusting for demographic variables.ConclusionThese findings suggest that alexithymia might be associated with a higher vulnerability to depressive disorders and factor 2 of TAS-20K could be a discriminating feature of depressive disorders.

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Is Alexithymia Associated with Specific Mental Disorders

Cited by 178 publications

References 85 publications

Psychopathology and alexithymia in patients with psoriasis

Psychopathology and alexithymia in patients with psoriasis

Alexithymia, anger and psychological distress in patients with myofascial pain: a case-control study

A Comparative Study on Alexithymia in Depressive, Somatoform, Anxiety, and Psychotic Disorders among Koreans

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