Abstract
The term «alexithymia» was coined by sifneos. It is characterized by a lack of words to express emotion (a: absence of; lexi: words; thymia: emotions, affects). Authors review the different etiological models of alexithymia, as well as the psychometric instruments available to measure this dimension. The first results concerning a study on the prevalence of alexithymia in patients with addictive behaviors (alcoholism, drug addiction, anorexia, bulimia) are presented; in this multicenter study, 654 patients with addictive behavior according to DSM-IV criteria are compared to 767 normal controls, matched for age, gender and socio-professional level. These subjects were aged between 15 and 50 years old. Alexithymia was evaluated with the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, 20 items version. The prevalence of alexithymia in the general population was 20,7 %. Alexithymia was not, in our comparison group, correlated with age, gender or socio-educative level. There was a higher level of alexithymia in patients with addictive behaviour (63 % in alcoholics, 41 % in drug addicts), when compared with normal controls. This difference was mostly due to the emotional component of alexithymia but not its cognitive one.
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