Alexithymia and somatic symptoms

Abstract

A person's limited ability to understand, process, or describe his/her feelings is referred to as alexithymia, literally no words for feelings. This concept was first introduced by Sifneos [1] and was formulated from observations of psychosomatic patients who had deficits in their ability to identify, describe, and work with their own feelings as well as having difficulty in distinguishing between their feelings and their bodily sensations. In addition to these deficits, the concept of alexithymia also includes a very limited fantasy life and a cognitive style that is excessively focused on external details.