Abstract
The present research explored the relationship between alexithymia, self-reported depression and trait anxiety and dreaming experience in a non-clinical sample. Characteristics of the alexithymia trait, such as the deficit in the symbolic representation of emotions and the limited imaginative ability, can have an impact on the richness and quality of dream experience. Depression and trait anxiety are both reported to be related to alexithymia and dreaming. A group of 30 non-clinical subjects (20 females) participated in the study. Alexithymia was assessed with the Toronto Structured Interview for Alexithymia (TSIA), an observer-report instrument composed of 24 questions that assesses a general subjective level of alexithymia and 4 dimensions of alexithymia: Identifying emotional feelings (DIF), Describing emotional feelings (DDF), Imaginal Processes (IMP); and Externally oriented thinking (EOT). The subjective dreaming experience was assessed with the Mannheim Dream Questionnaire (MADRE), an instrument that was designed to elicit some form of dream history including dream recall frequency, use and correlates of dream, attitude towards dream and presence of different kinds of dreams experience, such as nightmares, lucid dreams, and deja-vu. The BDI-2 and the STAI-Y2 were administered to evaluate negative affect. Two multivariate multiple regression analysis were carried on. Results showed that alexithymia was related to dream correlates and to attitude towards dream. Trait anxiety was found to be related to nightmares frequency and self-reported depression to deja-vu event. In the future, it would be interesting to use a larger and more representative sample. The use of clinical population, such as nightmare sufferers or patients with sleep and/or mental disorders, could possibly disclosure further meaningful relationships among affect dysregulation, affect modulation and self-reported retrospective dream characteristics.
Highlights
Alexithymia is a construct which comprises a pragmatic and externally oriented cognitive style that leads to a difficulty in recognizing and distinguishing between feelings and bodily sensations and in describing feelings to others [1]
Even if few studies have not found any relationships between alexithymia and the emotional content of dreams [7], the dreams of alexithymic people are often reported to be lacking in fantasy, bizarreness and symbolism. [8,9,10]
Some studies have reported evidence that specific sensory and structural features in dreams are altered among alexithymic patients [11] and, in particular, a decreased imaginative involvement and an externally-oriented thinking style in alexithymia have been consistently documented in American Journal of Applied Psychology 2019; 8(6): 121-132 daydreaming, fantasy, and nocturnal dreams [9, 10, 12]
Summary
Alexithymia is a construct which comprises a pragmatic and externally oriented cognitive style that leads to a difficulty in recognizing and distinguishing between feelings and bodily sensations and in describing feelings to others [1]. Clinicians described that alexithymic patients rarely or never report nocturnal dreams or, when requested, to recount their dreams as literal and concrete, with boring and unhelpful associations. Even if few studies have not found any relationships between alexithymia and the emotional content of dreams [7], the dreams of alexithymic people are often reported to be lacking in fantasy, bizarreness and symbolism. Some studies have reported evidence that specific sensory and structural features in dreams are altered among alexithymic patients [11] and, in particular, a decreased imaginative involvement and an externally-oriented thinking style in alexithymia have been consistently documented in American Journal of Applied Psychology 2019; 8(6): 121-132 daydreaming, fantasy, and nocturnal dreams [9, 10, 12]. Very similar physiognomies have been reported for clinical samples with alexithimic characteristics, such as skin disordered patients [13], asthmatics [14, 15] and sleep disordered [16], and among people with alexithimic features in the general population [8,9,10, 17]
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