Alexithymia ratings in bulimia nervosa: clinical correlates.

Previous reports indicate that some patients with eating disorders have alexithymic characteristics, including affect deficit states and paucity of imagination. This study evaluated whether nonhospitalized patients with bulimia nervosa had elevated ratings of alexithymia in comparison to age-matched controls, and whether severity of bulimic symptoms was correlated with elevations in alexithymia ratings. Because alexithymia may be secondary to concurrent depression, this study was limited to patients with bulimia nervosa who were free of major depression.

[French translation of Schalling-Sifneos Personality Scale Revised and Beth Israel Questionnaire, 2 evaluation tools of alexithymia].

The concept of alexithymia was first proposed in the 1960's by Sifneos and Nemiah to describe personality traits originally found in psychosomatic patients but which have since been found in other types of patients (alcoholics, drug addicts, traumatic stress disorder patients, sociopaths) as well as in the general population. Etymologically, alexithymia signifies: incapacity to speak one's emotions (from the Greek: a, lack; lexis, word; thymos, sentiments). Alexithymia is not the impossibility of feeling one's emotions, but rather the impossibility of associating them with corresponding mental representations and thus verbalizing them.

Alexithymia and its relationship to hemispheric specialization, affect, and creativity.

This article attempts to demonstrate the relations of alexithymia (no words for emotions) to hemispheric specialization and affect. In addition, it also points to alexithymia as a deficiency in the area of human feelings, and as such of being the opposite of creativity. The terms "affect," "emotion," and "feeling" are defined, and possible etiologic factors of the phenomenon of alexithymia are discussed, with special reference to primary and secondary alexithymia.

Short-term dynamic psychotherapy of phobic and mildly obsessive-compulsive patients.

This paper reviews the psychodynamics of phobic and obsessive-compulsive symptoms of mild severity and describes the techniques of short-term anxiety-provoking psychotherapy which are used to treat phobic and mildly obsessive-compulsive patients. Academic phobias, a common difficulty encountered in college students, are also discussed.

The current status of individual short-term dynamic psychotherapy and its future: an overview.

In this paper an overview of the status of individual short-term dynamic psychotherapy in Europe and in North America is presented. Special emphasis is placed on the criteria for selection of suitable patients, on the technical interventions that are being utilized by various workers in this field, and on the follow-up results.

Short-term dynamic psychotherapy for patients with physical symptomatology.

Findings of the effects of short-term anxiety-provoking psychotherapy (STAPP) on neurotic patients who also complain of physical symptoms without underlying pathology are presented in this paper. The criteria and clinical requirements of STAPP as well as nine outcome criteria used to assess improvement are briefly discussed. 14 out of 48 patients complained of physical symptoms in addition to other psychological difficulties.

Psychotherapies for psychosomatic and alexithymic patients.

The difficulties encountered in the treatment of psychosomatic and alexithymic patients are discussed in some detail. The possible etiological theories about alexithymia, namely, genetic, neuroanatomical/neurophysiological, developmental/sociocultural and psychodynamic, are reviewed. The various therapeutic interventions available are described and the conclusion is reached that supportive psychiatric treatments are recommended for primary alexithymic psychosomatic patients, while modified psychodynamic therapies are considered best suited for secondary alexithymic individuals.

Short-term dynamic psychotherapy: its history, its impact and its future.

Short-term dynamic psychotherapy is successful for the healthier patient, but also for the individual with severe and chronic problems. The author surveys the history of brief intervention since Freud. Despite favorable outcomes, there has been a lack of interest for short-term dynamic therapy.

Ongoing outcome research on short-term dynamic psychotherapy.

In this paper short-term dynamic psychotherapy (STAPP) is described briefly in terms of its selection criteria and technique, and the preliminary findings of an ongoing outcome study are presented. Of 22 experimental patients who were treated with STAPP, 14 were rated as 'recovered' by two evaluators, 4 were 'much better', 3 'little better' and 1 was 'unchanged'. Of 8 controls who waited a period of 2--5 months, 5 were 'unchanged' and 3 'a little better' at the end of their waiting period.

Alexithymia: concept and measurement.

Alexithymia is a concept in need of validation and measurement. The paper summarizes alexithymia as it is understood clinically and describes questionnaires used to elicit information helpful in making the assessment of alexithymia characteristics. Problems in use and the need for further work on comparative clinical experience are discussed.

Treatment of anxiety: a comparison of the usefulness of self-hypnosis and a meditational relaxation technique. An overview.

We have investigated prospectively the efficacy of two nonpharmacologic relaxation techniques in the therapy of anxiety. A simple, meditational relaxation technique (MT) that elicits the changes of decreased sympathetic nervous system activity was compared to a self-hypnosis technique (HT) in which relaxation, with or without altered perceptions, was suggested. 32 patients with anxiety neurosis were divided into 2 groups on the basis of their responsivity to hypnosis: moderate-high and low responsivity.