Relationship between Alexithymia and Panic Disorder: A Longitudinal Study to Answer an Open Question

Abstract

Background: In the present study, we evaluated whether patients with panic disorder (PD) in complete remission were more alexithymic than normal controls. Methods: Fifty-two PD patients (both during the acute phase of the disorder and after at least 2 months of complete remission) and 52 age- and sex-matched normal subjects completed the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 and the Hamilton Rating Scales for Anxiety (Ham-A) and for Depression. Results: A higher rate of alexithymia was found in PD patients than in controls (3.8%) both during the acute phase (44.2%; p < 0.001) and after remission of the disorder (21.2%; p = 0.008). During remission, PD patients showed: (1) Ham-A scores significantly higher than controls (p < 0.001); (2) only an elevation of the ‘difficulty in identifying feeling’ (DIF) dimension of alexithymia, and (3) a positive relationship between Ham-A scores and DIF levels (p < 0.001). Conclusion: After remission of panic attacks, phobic avoidance and anticipatory anxiety, PD patients are more alexithymic (even though the levels of alexithymia decreased after the resolution of the acute phase of PD) and anxious than controls. This finding might be explained by an overlap between cognitive aspects of PD and the DIF dimension of alexithymia, since alexithymic and anxious levels are positively related.

Alexithymia in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Its Relationship to Internalising Difficulties, Sensory Modulation and Social Cognition

“…In line with findings in non-ASD samples (Bankier et al 2001;Berthoz et al 1999;Marchesi et al 2005), our study found that young people with ASD and co-occurring alexithymia reported significantly higher trait anxiety than those with ASD but without alexithymia. The high prevalence of anxiety in individuals with ASD is consistently reported (Simonoff et al 2008;White et al 2009), but the shared cognitive correlates between the two disorders remain under exploration (e.g.…”

“…Taylor et al (1999) propose that alexithymia is primarily a disorder of affect regulation, leading to difficulties in modulating the autonomic nervous system, thus resulting in hyper-arousal in response to stress. In line with this view, there are consistent reports of increased anxiety, particularly panic disorder, among non-ASD individuals with elevated alexithymia (Bankier et al 2001;Berthoz et al 1999;Marchesi et al 2005). Additionally, one prospective longitudinal study found that higher alexithymia in early adolescence was associated with the development of an anxiety disorder four years later (Karukivi et al 2014).…”

The Assessment of Alexithymia in Medical Settings: Implications for Understanding and Treating Health Problems

“…With respect to the temporal stability of alexithymia, some longitudinal studies have suggested a trait view of alexithymia (e.g., Martinez-Sanchez, Ato-Garcia, & Ortiz-Soria, 2003), whereas the frequently observed association between alexithymia and depression or anxiety suggested a statedependent phenomenon (Honkalampi, Hintikka, Laukkanen, Lehtonen, & Viinamaki, 2001;Honkalampi et al, 2004;Marchesi, Fontò, Balista, Cimmino, & Maggini, 2005). Recent studies appear to have reached a consensus on this issue, however, by distinguishing absolute from relative stability.…”

Symptoms of cardiovascular diseases in the course of mental disorders

“…The very concept of somatization, according to Wilhelm Steckel a psychoanalyst who introduced this term, means a tendency to being more aware of physical than men-Archives of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, 2015; 4: [66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76] tal aspects of emotional states and expressing emotional suffering by means of somatic symptoms [3]. The ICD-10 lacks a separate diagnostic category related to psychosomatic illnesses.…”