Table 1.

The construct of alexithymia: main features.

• Difficulty in identifying feelings and in distinguishing them from bodily sensations that accompany emotional activation

• Difficulty in describing own feelings to others

• Limited imaginative processes, highlighted by the poverty of imagination and fantasy thought

• Cognitive style related to the stimulus and externally oriented

• Strict adherence to the rules, as if the identity is defined only from the outside and external reality

• Lack of introspective abilities and lacking mentalizing processes

• Inability to recognize and express emotions even at a non-verbal level

• Lack of emotional activation even in the face of emotionally meaningful events

• Lack of relational skills, poor tolerance to stress, lack of humor and excessive self-control