Alexithymia: the inability to say "I love you".

Why are some people unable to make their love explicit?

The Alexithymia is a neurological disorder that causes the inability to control and recognize one's own emotions and, consequently, makes the emotional expression of the person suffering from this disorder impossible..

What is alexithymia?

Not all individuals suffering from alexithymia have the same degree of affectation, since according to the experts there are two types: the primary alexithymiawhich is more severe and is the consequence of a brain injury caused, for example, by multiple sclerosis or stroke; and secondary alexithymiadue to an emotional trauma suffered or poor emotional learning.

The symptoms of alexithymia can also be shown in patients with Parkinson's disease, during the first stage of the development of the disease, and in most individuals suffering from autism.

Statistics indicate that alexithymia affects 8% of men and 1.8% of women. In addition, 30% of people affected with psychological disturbances and 85% of people suffering from autism suffer from this disorder.

History and construct

Alexithymia was first named as a psychological construct in 1972 by Peter E. Sifneos, and was seen as a deficit of emotional awareness. Studies indicate that this pathology has two dimensions: a cognitive one, when the person has problems in identifying, interpreting and verbalizing feelings and emotions; and an affective dimension, when there are difficulties in reacting, expressing, feeling and imagining emotionally (i.e., having emotional experiences).

As already mentioned, alexithymia is associated with several psychological disorders, such as autism, depression or schizophrenia. Coexistence with other psychological pathologies complicates the patient's recovery.

Symptoms

With respect to Alexithymia, it is important to know that does not appear in the DMS (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). Anyway, it can be defined by the following psychological, cognitive and behavioral characteristics:

• Difficulty verbalizing emotions, recognizing them and using them as internal cues.
• Difficulty in localizing one's own body sensations.
• Tendency to use action as a coping strategy in conflictive situations.
• Concrete thinking, devoid of symbols and abstractions.
• Rigidity in preverbal communication, with little mimicry and few body movements.

Types of alexithymia

Researchers and experts in this pathology differentiate two types of alexithymia:

1. primary alexithymia

It has a biological originNeurologists affirm that there is a neurological deficit that interferes in the communication between the limbic system (manages emotions) and the neocortex (our rational brain), or there is a deficiency in the communication between the left hemisphere (in charge of language production) and the right hemisphere (regulates emotions).

This type of alexithymia may have a hereditary origin (with an onset in childhood) or may be due to a neurological disease: multiple sclerosis, stroke, Parkinson's disease, etc.

2. Secondary alexithymia

This type of alexithymia arises due to some traumatic experience that an individual may have suffered, either in childhood or in thein childhood as well as in adulthood. Its symptoms can be explained as part of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in victims of kidnapping, rape or war. But secondary alexithymia can also be caused by a depressive disorder, substance addiction, eating disorders (anorexia or bulimia) or poor emotional education.

Treatment and therapy

The initiation of treatment of the patient with alexithymia requires his or her own motivation or that of someone close to him or her. If this first request does not exist (from the subject or from a family member or friend), it will be difficult for the treatment to be carried out. In this regard, it is rarely the patient who seeks help due to lack of knowledge or awareness of the problem..

Family support is necessary for this type of patient, since the treatment will be effective if it works from three sources: the application of appropriate drugs (in the case of primary alexithymia), psychotherapy and a planned life strategy. In this last source, the support of family members is especially important.

Regarding psychotherapy, a distinction should be made between primary and secondary alexithymia, since therapies oriented to self-awareness and emotional management are likely to work only with patients with secondary alexithymia.