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.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000287754 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Recognizing and Looking at Masked Emotional Faces in Alexithymia.
Behav Sci (Basel)
April 2024
Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University of Leipzig Medical Center, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
Alexithymia is a clinically relevant personality construct characterized by difficulties identifying and communicating one's emotions and externally oriented thinking. Alexithymia has been found to be related to poor emotion decoding and diminished attention to the eyes. The present eye tracking study investigated whether high levels of alexithymia are related to impairments in recognizing emotions in masked faces and reduced attentional preference for the eyes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDeployment of attention to facial expressions varies as a function of emotional quality-but not in alexithymic individuals.
Front Psychiatry
March 2024
Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University of Leipzig Medical Center, Leipzig, Germany.
Background: Alexithymia is a risk factor for emotional disorders and is characterized by differences in automatic and controlled emotion processing. The multi-stimulus free-viewing task has been used to detect increased negative and reduced positive attentional biases in depression and anxiety. In the present eye-tracking study, we examined whether lexical emotional priming directs attention toward emotion-congruent facial expressions and whether alexithymia is related to impairments in lexical priming and spontaneous attention deployment during multiple face perception.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlexithymia and interpersonal problems in healthy young individuals.
BMC Psychiatry
September 2023
Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University of Leipzig Medical Center, Semmelweisstr, 10, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
Background: Alexithymia refers to a multidimensional personality trait with the facets difficulties identifying feelings (DIF), difficulties describing feelings (DDF), and externally orientated thinking (EOT). Alexithymia is a risk factor for mental and somatic disorders. Previous research with patients suffering from various disorders showed positive relationships between alexithymia and interpersonal problems.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPsychological correlates of perceived loneliness in college students before and during the COVID-19 stay-at-home period: a longitudinal study.
BMC Psychol
March 2023
Department of Psychological, Health, and Territorial Sciences, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.
Background: Loneliness is increasingly acknowledged as a serious public health issue. This longitudinal study aimed to assess the extent to which psychological distress and alexithymia can predict loneliness among Italian college students before and one year after the COVID-19 outbreak.
Methods: A convenience sample of 177 psychology college students were recruited.
Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!