Abstract
Objective: Alexithymia is increasingly recognized in a number of psychiatric disorders, but a possible relationship between alexithymia and adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has not been studied. It is not known if psychostimulants decrease symptoms of both ADHD and alexithymia. This relationship is examined in a small naturalistic and longitudinal study. Participants: Ten consecutive stimulant-naive college students seek assessment and treatment for ADHD during the academic year. Method: Participants completed three self-report instruments quantifying ADHD symptomatology, alexithymia, and psychological mindedness prior to initiation of stimulant pharmacotherapy and after three and six months of medication treatment without formal psychotherapy. Results: ADHD symptoms decreased significantly from baseline to three months and remained low at six months. Decreases in alexithymia and increases in psychological mindedness changed more slowly, with significant differences occurring at six months compared to baseline. Conclusions: This study suggests that stimulant pharmacotherapy in college students with ADHD decreases ADHD symptoms and alexithymia while increasing psychological mindedness. These results have implications for untreated adult ADHD patients seeking psychotherapy.
Highlights
Alexithymia translates to “no words for feelings” and is used to describe patients who have difficulty identifying, naming, and expressing feelings [1,2]
Alexithymia is increasingly recognized in a number of psychiatric disorders, but a possible relationship between alexithymia and adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has not been studied
This study suggests that stimulant pharmacotherapy in college students with ADHD decreases ADHD symptoms and alexithymia while increasing psychological mindedness
Summary
Alexithymia translates to “no words for feelings” and is used to describe patients who have difficulty identifying, naming, and expressing feelings [1,2]. In attempting to conduct supportive-expressive psychotherapy with college students diagnosed with ADHD, the authors frequently observed alexithymia. If treating ADHD patients with psychostimulants reduces alexithymia and increases psychological mindedness, efforts to treat this population with psychotherapy are likely to be more beneficial [10,14]. The purposes of this pilot study are to examine the relationship between ADHD, alexithymia and psychological mindedness, and to determine the impact of psychostimulant therapy on these variables over a 6-month period
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