Explore the vast range of titles available.

\"This briefs reviews the literature on alexithymia with a particular focus on the relation between positive well-being and alexithymia. It starts by exploring the definition, history and etiology of the construct. The briefs then discusses the importance of research and presents new research which sheds light on why alexithymia is characterized by poor well-being. The research strongly suggests that people who score high in alexithymia are low in aspects of positive well-being such as happiness, life satisfaction, and positive affect, and high in aspects of negative well-being, such as depression and negative affect. Next, the book examines the correlates of alexithymia and the latter's relation with personality and subjective well-being. Although there has been an increased interest in human flourishing, and even though research in positive psychology has included personality, there has been little application of positive psychology to people with deficits in emotional processing including people with alexithymia. This briefs fills that gap\"-- From publisher's website.

ObjectivesTo assess by magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) the N-Acetyl- aspartate, myo-inositol, choline, sum of glutamate and glutamine (Glx), and creatine (Cr) content in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)/medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and in the occipital cortex (OCC) (control region) in patients with functional motor symptoms (FMS) and healthy controls, and to determine whether neurochemical limbic changes as estimated by MRS correlate with FMS-related motor symptom severity, alexithymia, anxiety, depression and quality of life.MethodsThis case-control study enrolled 10 patients with FMS and 10 healthy controls. Participants underwent MRS and were tested with the Mini Mental State Examination, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, 20- Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale and EuroQol 5D.ResultsIn patients with FMS, MRS showed increased Glx/Cr in the ACC/mPFC but normal content in the control OCC. All the other metabolites tested were normal in both regions. The increased Glx/Cr content in the ACC/mPFC correlated with alexithymia, anxiety and severity of symptoms.ConclusionsThe abnormal limbic Glx increase could have a crucial pathophysiological role in FMS possibly by altering limbic-motor interactions, ultimately leading to abnormal movements.

ObjectiveTo improve affect regulation, increase physical and social functioning, and reduce health care utilisation in patients with functional motor, sensory, and physical disorders, and/or chronic health anxiety.MethodFollowing a biopsychosocial assessment at The Persistent Physical Symptoms Clinic, patients were invited* to enrol in a 12 week group therapy programme (the Programme). Designed on principles of CBT and ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), the Programme combined psycho-education, behavioural experiments, cognitive reframing and Mindfulness. Pre-group and weekly validated measures (EQ-5DL, WEMS, SEPS) were collected, together with data about health care utilisation in the previous year. Patients with Health Anxiety additionally completed the Health Anxiety inventory (HAI).Individuals’ health beliefs and behaviours were recorded, along with historical and recent stressors (childhood/adult trauma, family physical and mental health status, financial worries). Alexithymia – a trait implicated in the impaired development of emotional neural structures, (Kano & Fukudo, 2013; Shibata et al, 2014) – was assessed using the TAS-20. Discussion of individual conditions (including NEAD, Conversion, Movement, Gastro-intestinal, Pain, and Respiratory disorders) was discouraged during the sessions, both to avoid iatrogenic perpetuation through fostering a ‘competitive’ ethos and to keep participants recovery-focused. Expanding psychological flexibility was encouraged in order to enhance acceptance and facilitate change. Learning to identify and name emotions related to their experience of illness helped patients establish links between affect and behaviour (e.g. anger with self, health professionals, and family, lack of exercise, isolation). Role play developed assertiveness skills, whilst experiential exercises – guided-relaxation and compassionate mindfulness – aimed to reduce somatosensory amplification ((Derakshan, Eysenck & Myers, 2007; Edwards & Bhatia, 2012). Patients drew on their own values to design goal-based behavioural experiments for inter-session practice. Dysfunctional cognitive styles implicated in both low mood and the exacerbation of functional conditions – dichotomous thinking, catastrophizing and over-generalising (Lumley, Neely, & Burger, 2007) were challenged, using humour as appropriate. Resilience skills were inter-woven with relapse-prevention techniques. An individual review was offered half-way through the Programme. *Non- English speakers and/or patients currently experiencing psychotic symptoms were excluded.ResultsParticipants who completed the group recorded decreases in health utilisation, isolation and anxiety, and an improvement in perceived control over their symptoms, quality of life, and inter-personal skills.ConclusionPreliminary results include reduced hyper-vigilance and symptomatology. Narcissistic traits are barriers to progress. OT physiotherapist input would enhance the Programme.

Introduction While poor sleep quality has been tied to worse social functioning, this relationship is complex and other variables likely play a role. For instance, emotion regulation and alexithymia are both related to sleep quality and to social functioning. Yet, the impact of these emotional processes on the relationship between sleep and social functioning remains unexplored. This study aimed to fill this gap by assessing whether alexithymia or two emotion regulation strategies –reappraisal and suppression—moderate the relationship between sleep and one aspect of social functioning (participation in social activities). We hypothesized that the relationship between sleep and social participation would be stronger for those who had greater difficulties in these emotional processes (high alexithymia, high suppression, or low reappraisal). Methods Data for this study came from the Pittsburgh Cold Study 3, a publicly available dataset (N = 213). Participants completed measures of self-reported sleep, emotion regulation, alexithymia, and social participation. Objective sleep data was also collected via actigraphy. Results The Reappraisal subscale significantly moderated the relationship between sleep quality and social participation. For participants with high reappraisal scores, worse sleep quality was related to lower social participation scores. Additionally, the Suppression subscale significantly moderated the relationship between actigraphy sleep duration and social participation. For participants with lower suppression scores, greater sleep duration was related to higher social participation. Alexithymia did not significantly moderate these relationships. Conclusion Our results suggest that the ability to effectively regulate one’s emotions may be important to consider in the link between sleep and social participation, as the relationship varies depending upon one’s use of emotion regulation strategies. Importantly, this sample included only individuals who had no recent mental health treatment. Future work should extend these findings by including a wider range of participants, including those with relevant diagnoses– such as borderline personality and schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. Support (if any) The data were collected by the Laboratory for the Study of Stress, Immunity, and Disease at the Carnegie Mellon University under the directorship of Sheldon Cohen, PhD; and were accessed via the Common Cold Project website (www.commoncoldproject.com; grant number NCCIH AT006694).

Los resultados del presente estudio forman parte de una investigación dirigida a comprobar si el proceso cognitivo-emocional de reconocimiento de la propia emoción es deficitario en función de la condición clínica y la alexitimia en los sujetos que presentan somatizaciones. En dicha investigación se ha solicitado la autoevaluación de la propia emoción y se ha empleado un procedimiento donde se minimiza el empleo de habilidades y comprensión verbal. El objetivo específico del presente trabajo ha sido conocer el grado de covariación entre alexitimia y reconocimiento emocional en participantes clínicos y no clínicos. Los resultados de este estudio ponen de manifiesto la existencia de diferencias significativas entre los participantes clínicos y los controles. Las correlaciones significativas se producen totalmente de forma inversa con la valencia afectiva en los participantes clínicos; mientras que es en las puntuaciones a la TAS-20 en los controles donde se producen correlaciones con la activación, de forma directa. En las conclusiones se discute si la variabilidad de los resultados de la investigación precedente de la relación entre la alexitimia y el reconocimiento emocional es una característica de esta relación, o si depende de los procedimientos y muestras empleados. Influence of clinical status in the relationship between alexithymia and emotional recognition: A dimensional study. The results of this study are part of an investigation to determine whether the cognitive-emotional process of emotional recognition is deficient as a function of the clinical condition and alexithymia in subjects with somatization. This investigation applied the self-assessment of emotion and used a procedure that minimizes the use of verbal skills and verbal comprehension. The specific goal of this study was to verify whether there were differences in the covariation between alexithymia and self-evaluation of the emotional reaction in clinical and nonclinical subjects. The results of this study highlight the significant differences between clinical and control subjects. There were inverse significant correlations with the affective valence in clinical subjects, whereas in the ratings of the TAS-20 in control subjects, there were direct correlations with activation. In the conclusions, we discuss whether the variability of the results of previous research of the relationship between alexithymia and emotional recognition is a characteristic feature of this relationship or an effect of the different sampling and procedures utilized.

This study investigated the size of the impact that emotion-related interventions had on the alexithymia scores of children and young people and the effectiveness of these interventions in an independent special school. Additionally, the aim was to understand the needs of young people in specialist educational provisions more holistically to gain a clearer understanding of their emotions and associated regulation. The aims were to see an improvement in alexithymia scores, a reduction in somatic complaints, and for students to be able to regulate their emotions with greater success. Students and staff from an independent special school were invited to complete an array of quantitative measures, which included the Alexithymia Questionnaire for Children (AQC), Somatic Complaints List (SCL), and Children's Alexithymia Measure (CAM) at baseline and post-intervention. It was hypothesized that there would be a significant positive difference in alexithymia scores and a reduction of somatic complaints from baseline to post-intervention. Overall, the results depicted positive steps were being taken through the emotion-related interventions in reducing alexithymia scores; however, the somatic complaints results were mixed.

The psychological characteristic of having difficulty expressing emotions, known as alexithymia, is associated with hypervigilance to pain and is considered one of the risk factors for chronic pain. The correlation between alexithymia and hypervigilance to pain can be observed even in healthy individuals. However, the factors influencing this correlation remain unknown. We explored the dopamine system, which is known to be involved in emotion and pain. The dopamine-degrading enzyme catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) has a genetic polymorphism known to influence dopamine metabolism in the prefrontal cortex. COMT polymorphism reportedly affects various aspects of pain and increases pain sensitivity in Met allele carriers. Therefore, we investigated whether the correlation between alexithymia and hypervigilance to pain is influenced by COMT polymorphism in healthy individuals. The results revealed a significant positive correlation between the “difficulty describing feelings” of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale and the “attention to changes in pain” of the pain vigilance and awareness questionnaire in COMT Met carriers but not in Val/Val individuals. This finding suggests that the correlation between alexithymia and hypervigilance to pain is influenced by COMT polymorphism.

IntroductionAnxiety and depression are among the most common psychiatric comorbidities in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. These disorders could lead to significant emotional disturbances.ObjectivesTo study the different dimensions of alexithymia in patients with MS and determine their relationship with anxiety and depression.MethodsOur study, descriptive and analytical, focused on patients followed for MS at the neurology department in Sfax (Tunisia). In addition to collecting sociodemographic data, we used the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) to assess anxiety and depressive symptoms and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) to assess alexithymia and its three dimensions: difficulty identifying emotions (DIE), difficulty differentiating emotions (DDE), and externally oriented thinking (EOT).ResultsThis study included 93 patients followed for MS. Our results showed a prevalence of 58.1% for alexithymia, 38.7% for anxiety and 26.9% for depression. The median score of the dimension DIE was 22. The median score of the dimension DDE was 17. The mean score for the dimension EOT was 26.96 ± 4.18. Alexithymic patients were more anxious and depressed (p = 0,002 and p < 10-3, respectively). Both dimensions DIE and DDE were associated with anxiety (p = 0.001 and p = 0.022, respectively) and depression (p < 10-3 and p < 10-3, respectively). Non-depressed patients had a higher score on the EOT dimension (p = 0.003).ConclusionsOur results showed a relationship between depression, anxiety and alexithymia, hence the importance of looking for alexithymia in MS patients with anxiety or depressive symptoms.DisclosureNo significant relationships.