The Prevalence of ‘Alexithymic’ Characteristics in Psychosomatic Patients
2010/02/12 by P.E. Sifneos, Peter E. Sifneos · 20 citations
Medicine · #Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
paper · doi:10.1159/000286529
openalex publication_date 2010/02/12 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Abstract
An attempt is made in this paper to investigate the prevalence among patients who suffer from various psychosomatic diseases, of a relative constriction in emotional functioning, poverty of fantasy life, and inability to find appropriate words to describe their emotions. For lack of a better term, I call these characteristics ‘alexithymic’. Twenty-five psychosomatic patients outnumbered 25 control patients by better than two to one as far as possession of these ‘alexithymic’ characteristics. The question is raised whether these defects are due to biological or developmental factors, and the conclusion is reached that patients with these characteristics may not be good candidates for dynamic psychotherapy.
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