Emotional blindness is a real thinghere’s how it can impact your life.
Alexithymia is not a mental health condition on its own; it’s often asymptomof a mental health disorder.
So, What Exactly Causes Alexithymia?
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Experts arent sure what causes alexithymia.
There may be genetic, neurological, and developmental contributions.
It affects bothgendersequally, and is often thought of as a personality trait more than anything else.
Did You Know?
The term alexithymia was coined by a psychotherapist named Peter Emanuel Sifneos in 1973.
As such, shutting down and detaching from feelings becomes a survival mechanism.
Over time, these children become adults who have no idea what they are feeling, Dr. King explains.
Heres what that may look like.
Relationship Impacts
Interpersonal relationshipsare one of the areas where alexithymia can have the greatest impact.
This patient was in her 40s and had experiencedsevere physical abuseby a parent for all of her childhood.
Ricciardi L, Demartini B, Fotopoulou A, et al.Alexithymia in Neurological Disease: A Review.
- doi:10.1176/appi.neuropsych.14070169
Hogeveen J, Grafman J.Alexithymia.
Handbook of Clinical Neurology.
2021;183:47-62. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-822290-4.00004-9
Goerlich KS.The Multifaceted Nature of Alexithymia A Neuroscientific Perspective.Frontiers in Psychology.
