Writing about one's thoughts and feelings about being in hospital for a surgical operation has beneficial effects on postoperative course. This holds particularly true for high alexithymic subjects, who obtain through writing the same outcome as low alexithymic subjects.

This paper tests the hypothesis of a high frequency of traumatic events and high levels of alexithymia in wives of individuals with myocardial infarction (MI), assuming that this constellation may have led to choosing a husband with a Type A Behaviour Pattern (TABP)-characterized by irritability, hyper-competition, time urgency and denial of difficulties-which is known to represent an increased risk for MI and to reinforce this pattern. Twenty wives of patients with MI and 20 wives of patients with mild orthopaedic (Orth) problems were administered a Childhood Traumatic Events Scale (CTES) and the TAS-20. MI wives showed higher scores on the CTES than Orth wives; 10 MI wives as against three Orth ones reported a history of very severe childhood trauma. TAS 20 scores were higher in MI than in Orth wives. © 2005 Taylor & Francis Group Ltd