Abstract
In Japan some authors have said that alexithymia is opposite to neurotic personality and that alexithymia is specifically found among patients suffering from psychosomatic disorders, though there have been no valid reports. The purpose of this paper is to answer these two problems. Problem A. Is alexithymia opposite to neurotic personality? The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) and the Schalling-Sifneos Personality Scale-revised version (SSPS-R) were administered to a total of 522 employees in some companies and university students to assess neurotic and alexithymic personalities, respective]y. Spearman's rank-order coefficient between the neuroticism scores of the EPQ and SSPS-R scores was 0.00 (p<0.01).Thirty-five patients suffering from anxiety disorders (panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder) and 35 healthy controls were assessed using SSPS-R. All the anxiety patients and 20 controls were assessed by Beth Israel Hospital Psychosomatic Questionnaire (BIQ). The average SSPS-R score among the patients was 7.5 (SD 2.5) and that among the controls was 7.0 (2.4). The average BIQ score among the patients was 4.0 (1.9) and that among the controls was 4.4 (1.7). There is no significant difference of alexithymic trait between neurotic patients and control subjects. These results show that alexithymia is not a personality trait opposite to a neurotic one. Problem B. Is alexithymia specifically found among patients suffering from psychosomatic disorders? Subjects were 94 patients suffering from peptic ulcer (38) and bronchial asthma (56) and 94 healthy controls. Alexithymic trait was assessed by SSPS-R. The average SSPS-R score among the patients was 8.8 (2.6) and that among the controls was 8.3 (2.7). The difference was not statistically significant. The severity of psychosocial stressors among 55 patients suffering from peptic ulcer and bronchial asthma was assessed according to the Axis IV of DSM-III-R. Twenty patients had had no stressors for a year before diagnosed, while 12 had had more than "moderate" stressors. The average BIQ and SSPS-R scores among the 20 patients having no stressors were 4.1 (1.6) and 8.8 (2.7). Those among the 12 patients having stressors were 4.2 (1.4) and 8.9 (2.4), respectively. There is no significant difference between the patients who have had stressors and those having no stressors. These results show that it is not the case that the patients suffering from bronchial asthma and peptic ulcer, which are often called as "psychosomatic disorder, " are more alexithymic. Among the patients psychosocial stressors have nothing to do with the degree of alexithymic trait. Conclusions. Alexithymia is not opposite to neurotic personality. It is not specifically found among patients suffering from psychosomatic disorders.
