Abstract
ObjectivesPrevious research on alexithymia has led to controversy over its prevalence in panic disorder. The aim of this study was to assess the difference in the prevalence of alexithymia in panic disorder and other anxiety disorders.Design and MethodsWe performed a cross-sectional study on a sample of 71 patients diagnosed with panic disorder and 113 patients diagnosed with other anxiety disorders; both groups were 18–50 years old. Primary outcome was the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) score. Secondary outcome was the prevalence of alexithymia defined as a TAS score ≥61.ResultsPatients diagnosed with panic disorder had a 25% higher score on the TAS subscale of difficulty identifying feelings than patients diagnosed with other anxiety disorders. The prevalence of alexithymia was 27% in patients with panic disorder and 13% in patients with other anxiety disorders. Patients diagnosed with panic disorder had significantly higher odds for alexithymia.ConclusionsThe results of our study support the hypothesis of higher prevalence of alexithymia in individuals with panic disorder than in individuals with other anxiety disorders. In addition, difficulty identifying feelings as a salient feature of alexithymia is higher in panic disorder than in other anxiety disorders.
Highlights
The construct of alexithymia refers to a cluster of features, comprising difficulty identifying and describing subjective feelings, an impoverished fantasy life, and preoccupation with external events rather than to inner mental processes [1,2,3]
While the accurate meaning of the term alexithymia suggests a type of anomia instead of agnosia, for most clinicians and researchers inspired by Sifneos and Nemiah, it is the name of a multifaceted construct that encompasses more than a difficulty finding words for emotional feelings, rather words denuded of their affective significance [11, 12]
We enrolled 71 patients diagnosed with Panic disorder (PD) and 113 patients diagnosed with OAD
Summary
The construct of alexithymia refers to a cluster of features, comprising difficulty identifying and describing subjective feelings, an impoverished fantasy life, and preoccupation with external events rather than to inner mental processes [1,2,3]. Alexithymia was described in psychosomatic patients [4,5,6,7]. While the accurate meaning of the term alexithymia suggests a type of anomia instead of agnosia, for most clinicians and researchers inspired by Sifneos and Nemiah, it is the name of a multifaceted construct that encompasses more than a difficulty finding words for emotional feelings, rather words denuded of their affective significance [11, 12]. Prevalence of alexithymia is around 10% in the general population [13,14,15,16,17]
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