Alexithymia

Alexithymia is a term for people who are unable to recognize, feel, and express their own emotions. This condition is not a mental disorder, but is often found as a symptom of certain psychological problems or medical conditions.

Someone who experiences alexithymia is not trying to hide their emotions, but rather has difficulty and confusion in processing and expressing them to others. This condition occurs when someone is unable to capture emotional signals within themselves.

People with alexithymia are also unable to read situations or feel other people’s emotions. As a result, they are often considered apathetic, alien, and even arrogant because they cannot give the right emotional response. Their inability to feel emotions can also put them in dangerous situations.

For example, a person with alexithymia is confused by the emergence of strange feelings from a stranger who tries to kidnap him. However, he cannot show his feelings and is confused about what to do. If there is no effort to fight back or seek help, he could be injured by the kidnapper.

Another example, people with alexithymia will have difficulty expressing their feelings or taking the initiative to please friends or partners. This can make friends and partners feel unloved, frustrated, and even end relationships with people with alexithymia.

Causes of Alexithymia

As far as is known, alexithymia is closely related to genetic problems, neurological disorders, or developmental disorders. Based on its type, alexithymia can be caused by several things:

Alexithymia primer 

Primary alexithymia occurs since a child is born, usually due to genetic disorders or brain disorders. Damage to the brain can make a child unable to feel and convey his emotions, even to have empathy for others.

Alexithymia seconds 

Secondary alexithymia is alexithymia that appears due to a certain condition, including:

• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Anxiety disorders
• Depressive disorder
• Eating disorders
• Personality disorders
• Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Trauma due to experiencing violence in childhood

Risk factors for alexithymia 

Some of the conditions below can also increase a person’s risk of experiencing alexithymia:

• Head injury 
• Use of illegal drugs
• Alcohol addiction
• Nervous disorders, such as stroke, Huntington’s disease , Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis , or epilepsy
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Dementia 
• Dystonia , a disorder in which muscles contract uncontrollably. 
• Infection of the brain, such as encephalitis or meningitis
• Autism 
• Corticobasal syndrome, a rare disease that causes shrinkage of certain parts of the brain 

Symptoms of Alexithymia 

Signs and symptoms of alexithymia are often not noticed by the sufferer and are discovered by others. Some of the symptoms include:

• Confused or blank when asked about feelings
• When asked about conditions or feelings, can only answer “good”-“bad” or “happy”-“not happy”
• Tends to explain emotions or feelings with logic and physical sensations
• Unable to imagine and not finding pleasure in imagining things
• Tends to get angry for no reason when unable to explain one’s own emotions
• Not understanding his own or other people’s facial expressions
• Seemingly indifferent to the happiness or emotions of others
• Losing motivation and enthusiasm for no reason, leading to delaying work
• Have no clear future plans
• Rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, body aches, and headaches for no apparent reason
• Having thoughts of suicide or harming yourself for no good reason

When to see a doctor 

If you are experiencing symptoms of alexithymia and are having trouble living your life, do not hesitate to consult via Chat with a Doctor . That way, the doctor can help you find the source of the problem and treat it.

You can also consult a doctor via chat if you feel that your family member or partner is experiencing alexithymia. This is because interaction and communication with someone with alexithymia can be frustrating, especially if you are going through it alone.

Through online consultations , doctors can also help you to manage your own emotions and learn more effective ways to deal with people with alexithymia.

In children, symptoms of alexithymia can resemble those of autism. If your child shows signs of alexithymia, consult a child psychologist or psychiatrist. If your child’s symptoms point to alexithymia, the doctor may recommend that your child undergo a brain examination.

Diagnosis Alexithymia

To diagnose alexithymia, the doctor will first ask about the patient’s complaints and complete medical history, while paying attention to the patient’s emotions in the sentences they utter and their facial expressions.

Additionally, doctors may use questionnaires to check the severity of alexithymia. If alexithymia is suspected to be due to a nervous system disorder, the doctor may order an MRI.

Treatment of Alexithymia

Treatment for alexithymia aims to train sufferers to be able to recognize and express their own feelings, as well as to foster empathy for others. Here are some methods that can be done:

Changes in daily habits

Exercises that can be done by alexithymia sufferers to express their emotions include:

• Do regular journaling every day
• Using photos or emojis to recognize different emotions 
• Participate in art classes, such as acting, music, or dance
• Listening to music
• Reading comics or novels
• Doing meditation exercises or relaxation techniques

Considering that people with alexithymia are often unaware of their condition, family or close friends can provide the following assistance:

• Be patient and provide assistance when the sufferer has difficulty expressing his emotions.
• Give alexithymia sufferers space and time to process their emotions.
• Give examples of emotions that can occur, for example when watching a film or when attending an event attended by many people.

Psychotherapy

There are different types of psychotherapy that can be used for alexithymia, for example dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT). Basically, all of these psychotherapies aim to:

• Training alexithymia sufferers to recognize and manage their emotions
• Improves the sufferer’s ability to recognize other people’s emotions
• Train the sufferer’s ability to socialize with other people
• Recognizing and naming signals from within the body, such as hunger, thirst, or pain.

Complications of Alexithymia

If not treated properly, alexithymia can cause severe stress for sufferers because they have difficulty interacting with others. Complications that can occur can attack the sufferer physically and mentally, including:

• Social isolation and loneliness
• Self -harm behavior
• Psychosomatic disorders , in which unexpressed emotions become physical symptoms, such as pain.
• Panic disorder
• Heart attacks , which are triggered by unhealthy behaviors from eating disorders, alcohol addiction, or not being aware of seeking a doctor when feeling sick.

Prevention of Alexithymia

Prevention of alexithymia is by avoiding risk factors for this condition. Some things that can be done are:

• Use personal protective equipment when driving to prevent brain injury.
• Treat various infections that can easily spread to the brain, especially eye and ear infections, as early as possible.
• Undergo regular treatment if you have a condition that can cause alexithymia, such as epilepsy. 
• Do not consume alcoholic beverages or use illegal drugs
• Maintain mental health by adopting healthy habits, such as mindful eating, regular exercise, daily journaling , and positive self-talk. 
• Don’t let anxiety get to you, but do relaxation techniques, such as grounding techniques , to relieve it.

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