The Concept of Alexithymia

Öz

The concept of alexithymia, which means "no words for emotions", emerged in order to explain the symptoms of psychosomatic patients and gained a quick recognition among psychiatrists. However, current studies indicate that alexithymia may be a personality trait seen both in different pathological groups and even in healthy population. At this point, many researches have been made in order to distinguish alexithymia from existing constructs and diagnosis, and to remove the questions on reliability and validity of the con-cept and its measurement. Ongoing discussions on alexithymia will be re-viewed in this study. The controversial concept of alexithymia will be exam-ined in terms of characteristics, theoretical background, relationship with the other disorders, measurement and the critique of the measurement and the concept.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Alexithymia, pathology, neurophysiology, psychoanalysis

Aleksitimi Kavramı

Öz

"Duygular için söz yokluğu" anlamına gelen ve psikiyatri çevrelerince hızla kabul görmüş bir kavram olan aleksitimi, başlangıçta psikosomatik hastalardaki belirtileri açıklamak için ortaya atılmıştır. Ancak güncel çalışmalar aleksitiminin birçok farklı patolojik grupta ve hatta sağlıklı popülasyonda da karşımı-za çıkan bir kişilik özelliği olabileceğini ortaya koymuştur. Bu noktada aleksi-timi kavramının var olan yapı ve tanılardan ayrılması ve gerek kuramsal gerekse ölçümsel anlamda güvenirlik ve geçerliğine yönelik soru işaretlerinin ortadan kalkması için birçok araştırma yapılmıştır. Bu kuramsal derleme çalışmasında da, kavram üzerinde süre giden tartışmaların günümüzde ne noktada olduğu sorusuna yanıt aranmaktadır. Bu bağlamda, aleksitimi kavramı; özellikleri, kuramsal temelleri, diğer bozukluklarla ilişkisi ve ölçümü boyutlarında incelenmekte; hem ölçüme hem de kavrama yönelik eleştiriler ele alınmıştır

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Aleksitimi, patoloji, nörofizyoloji, psikanaliz

Kaynakça

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99. Cox BJ, Swinson RP, Shulman ID, Bourdeau D. Alexithymia in panic disorder and social phobia. Compr Psychiatry 1995; 36:195-198. Miray Şaşıoğlu, Uzm. Psikolog., Psikonet Psikoterapi ve Eğitim Merkezi, İstanbul; Çağla Gülol, Dr. Psikolog, Elan Vital Danışmanlık, İstanbul; Ahmet Tosun, Yrd. Doç. Dr., Okan Üniv. Psikoloji Bölümü, İstanbul. Yazışma Adresi/Correspondence: Miray Şaşıoğlu, Psikonet Psikoterapi ve Eğitim Merkezi, İstanbul, Turkey. E-mail: [e-mail] Yazarlar bu makale ile ilgili herhangi bir çıkar çatışması bildirmemişlerdir. The authors reported no conflict of interest related to this article. Çevrimiçi adresi / Available online at: www.cappsy.org/archives/vol5/no4/ Çevrimiçi yayım / Published online 30 Aralık/December 30, 2013; doi:10.5455/cap.20130531