Hello and welcome back in the quiz world! Have you ever noticed that expressing your feelings is a struggle? If yes, you might have alexithymia. Don’t worry if you don’t know what that is! We will inform you. We will fill you in. Additionally, our alexithymia test will uncover the answer to the question: do you have alexithymia?
Almost everyone has experienced how difficult it can be to put one’s feelings into words at times. However, for some people, this task is particularly intimidating.
Alexithymia is a condition in which people have difficulty recognizing, describing, and expressing their emotions. It’s not considered a disorder by the DSM-5 (a manual for the classification of mental disorders), so it can’t be officially diagnosed. However, professionals can use questionnaires and measurement tools to screen for signs of alexithymia.
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One of the assessments is a true/false self-questionnaire. It could have statements like “I’m not sure how I feel in general”, “I usually struggle to express how I feel about other people”, or “I am perplexed or have difficulty comprehending the outward signs of my emotions.”
If these statements ring true for you, it could mean you have difficulties in some areas of your life, and alexithymia is the result of that.
People with alexithymia may have difficulty processing their emotions and communicating them to others. They may also find it difficult to express or feel socially acceptable emotions, such as happiness on a joyous occasion.
They might be confused by bodily sensations related to emotions. They might also have difficulties with maintaining relationships. It’s worth noting that not all individuals with alexithymia will suffer these symptoms.
The most identifiable signs of alexithymia include:
Alexithymia can contribute to anxiety. People who have this condition may struggle to detect physical symptoms of anxiety. It makes these symptoms confusing and even harder to manage.
Anxious people are usually able to accept a certain level of stress at specific times. This acceptance can prevent anxiety from worsening. It may be more challenging to control in an autistic person with alexithymia.
Affective alexithymia is a type of alexithymia characterized by the extent to which one’s emotions are subjective rather than objective. Cognitive alexithymia is another subtype that describes a person’s ability to identify and express feelings. It is the type of alexithymia we’ll be discussing today.
Although individuals with alexithymia and psychopathy both experience might lack empathy, the two are not the same. People with alexithymia struggle with recognizing and expressing their emotions. Psychopaths, on the other hand, fake their feelings which are usually surface-level.
Individuals with alexithymia are typically anxious, conforming, and submissive, with no violent or manipulative tendencies. People on the psychopathy spectrum are dominant, deceptive, and non-conforming, and they do not experience anxiety, fear, or guilt as a result of their feelings.
There is a strong connection between alexithymia and autism. One study suggests that around half of people with autism likely experience alexithymia. Other research implies that the lack of empathy popularly associated with ASD co-occurs with alexithymia. To put it another way, it is alexithymia, not autism, that causes the lack of empathy.
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It’s not entirely clear what causes alexithymia. Some researchers believe it could be genetic. Others suggest environmental factors like a history of childhood trauma, socioeconomic situation, and physical or mental health conditions. In some cases, alexithymia could be a result of brain damage, specifically injury to the anterior insula. Being male, older, impoverished, having a low level of education, and having low emotional intelligence are all risk factors for alexithymia.
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What to do if our alexithymia test discovers you have it? There is no single treatment for alexithymia. The approach taken depends on an individual situation and other conditions you might have, like depression or anxiety. Medication could be helpful. Therapy like CBT or group therapy may also be beneficial in this case.
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Do you wish to find out if you have alexithymia? Take our alexithymia test and learn to express your feelings!
