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Query: UMLS:C0011570 (depression)
 172,036 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The relationship between depressed mood and alexithymia, measured by the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) was investigated in a group of psychiatric inpatients (n = 81) and outpatients (n = 97). In both cohorts correlations between the TAS and obsessoid personality style were significant when controlled for mood. The obsessoid style, measured by the Hysteroid-Obsessoid Scale was the most powerful predictor of alexithymia in regression models for each cohort. These data suggest that alexithymia is not a function of depression in such psychiatric patients.
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PMID:Alexithymia and depressed mood in the psychiatric patient. 209 Oct 30

Twenty-four patients with unexplained somatic complaints were subjected to a thorough somatic examination. Only when the examination proved negative was the patient entered into the study. The patients were clinically appraised according to criteria given in DSM-III. Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) was diagnosed in 12, somatization disorder (SD) in 8, and hypochondriasis in 4 patients. Seventeen of the 24 patients agreed to participate in biochemical investigations including a TRH load, a dexamethasone test, and a determination of the monoamine metabolites 5-HIAA and HVA in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). A normal TSH increase and a normal suppression of cortisol were registered. The HVA values correlated significantly with the 5-HIAA values as well as with the alexithymia scores. Concerning alexithymia and maturity level, no difference as to social class was found. The patients filled in a Zung depression chart. The Zung scale and the 5-HIAA values were both inconsistent with depressive illness. In so-called hypochondriasis a long-term relationship, including selected somatic and biochemical examinations and thorough information, was crucial in abating the patient's distrust and thus the need for health care.
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PMID:A study of so-called hypochondriasis. 209 Oct 34

The authors studied 227 inpatients from a large Veterans Administration Medical Center to evaluate whether alexithymia is associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and to assess the validity of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) alexithymia scale. Three groups--a carefully diagnosed PTSD group (N = 76), an alcohol abuse group (N = 76), and a general psychiatric group (N = 75)--were given a battery of psychological tests, including the MMPI, the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory, and the Beck Depression Inventory, along with several cognitive measures. PTSD veterans were also evaluated on psychophysiologic indices (including a stressor) and on their subjective ratings to these indices. Results showed that alexithymia was more characteristic of PTSD patients than of the other groups. Also, alexithymia was inversely related to heart rate. Alexithymia was not significantly correlated with the subjective experience of stressors. The authors discuss the importance of the construct of alexithymia among PTSD patients and recommend the use of the alexithymia scale for these patients. The independence of this measure from the psychophysiologic condition of hyperarousal and the subjective experience of this state were also addressed.
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PMID:Alexithymia among Vietnam veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder. 207 64

A woman who suffered multiple losses in childhood and adolescence became depressed 40 years later, after a series of new losses. Concomitant alexithymic features caused a masking of her depression by somatic symptoms. The relationships between alexithymia, masked depression and loss are discussed.
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PMID:Alexithymia, masked depression and loss in a Holocaust survivor. 259 65

The relationship between depression and chronic low back pain (LBP) is controversial. Theorists differ in the emphasis they place on predisposing versus reactive factors in LBP disability and depression. Alexithymia has been suggested as a predisposing factor in psychosomatic disorders, including chronic LBP. This study addresses the association between depression, alexithymia, and LBP using the Rorschach comprehensive system. LBP patients were hypothesized to be distinguishable from Research Diagnostic Criteria-diagnosed inpatient depressives, to exhibit features of alexithymia, and to resemble a group of DSM-III personality disorders. Subjects were 33 chronic LBP patients. Results supported the hypotheses. On depression measures, LBP patients differed significantly from depressives (p less than .001). LBP patients exhibited Rorschach features consistent with alexithymia. They also exhibited a number of similarities to the personality disorders group. The role of alexithymia as a cognitive-mediating factor in coping and adaptation is discussed.
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PMID:Depression, alexithymia, and pain prone disorder: a Rorschach study. 295 16

The evidence that duodenal ulcer is a psychosomatic disorder is reviewed. A variety of both experimental stressors and differing states of emotional arousal (anxiety and anger in particular) are associated with increased acid and pepsin secretion. Furthermore, chronic life stressors predispose to duodenal ulcer, presumably by way of symptomatic anxiety or depression, while poor social support may comprise another risk factor. Subjects with high levels of trait anxiety or neuroticism are more prone to stress-induced anxiety and its physiological consequences. There is minimal acceptable evidence to support more specific personality-related theories, including Type A behaviour, alexithymia or the earlier psycho-analytic theories of Alexander. Nonetheless, it is concluded that Alexander's inclusion of duodenal ulcer as one of a handful of classic psychosomatic disorders has been confirmed. Since some 40% of duodenal ulcer patients relapse in the first year after medical treatment, there may be some role for psychological treatments (especially in the domain of stress/anxiety management) for those patients who relapse and have co-existing high state or trait anxiety or exposure to chronic stressors.
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PMID:Psychosocial causes of duodenal ulcer. 304 60

The purpose of this investigation was to measure alexithymia in 90 newly abstinent alcoholism treatment candidates and to examine the relationship between alexithymia and depressive symptoms. Subjects completed the Schalling-Sifneos Personality Scale (SSPS) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) at the time of application for care. The correlation between subjects' SSPS scores and their BDI scores was statistically significant (r = -0.398; p less than 0.001). Study participants with high BDI scores tended to be 'more alexithymic' than were those with low BDI scores. The authors conclude that alexithymia may serve as a defensive operation for alcoholic patients denying painful affect.
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PMID:The relationship between alexithymia and depressive symptoms in a sample of newly abstinent alcoholic inpatients. 323 60

The relationship of depression and the severity of medical illness to alexithymia was investigated in 75 medically ill patients seen in psychiatric consultation. Both depression and living alone predicted alexithymia but severity of medical illness was not related to an individual's alexithymic characteristics measured by the revised Schalling-Sifneos Scale. The implications of the findings are discussed in relationship to previous data regarding alexithymia in a psychiatric consultation population.
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PMID:Alexithymia: relationship to severity of medical illness and depression. 325 79

The purposes of this paper were to complete factor and item analyses of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) in a sample of mixed substance abusers and to examine the correlations between patients' TAS scores and other variables. Results indicate that the TAS is a reliable, valid measure of alexithymia for substance abusers. The factor structure we found is congruent with the theoretical construct and is similar to those published in the normative studies; coefficient alpha reliability was 0.68. Additionally, a high percentage of the subjects (50.4%) scored in the alexithymic range while 24% had scores in the nonalexithymic range. Patients' TAS scores were positively associated with Beck Depression Inventory scores, with a reported paternal history of alcoholism, and with attempted suicide; TAS scores were negatively associated with being Black.
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PMID:Validation of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale with substance abusers. 325 81

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) scores and derived subscale scores changed in a sample of newly abstinent alcoholic inpatients. Subjects completed the TAS and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) on the date of their application for care (Time 1) and at the end of their 3rd week in treatment (Time 2). Patients' mean BDI scores dropped significantly from Time 1 to Time 2; however, the expected concomitant drop in mean TAS scores did not occur. TAS subscales analysis suggests that the subscale associated with the ability to identify one's feelings and to distinguish them from bodily sensations may capture the alexithymia construct better by itself than when combined with the second 2 subscales, daydreaming and external thinking, to create the total TAS score.
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PMID:Alexithymia: subscales and relationship to depression. 326 27


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