Alexithymia and chronic diseases: the state of the art

Alexithymia is a disorder of the regulatory mechanism of the emotion elaboration; it is characterized by difficulties in differentiating and describing feelings. Research indicates that alexithymia can be considered as a possible risk factor for a variety of medical conditions as it may increase susceptibility to disease development. The interest in alexithymia has increased considerably over the past decade. The present review was aimed at providing a state of the art of recent research on alexithymia in patients with chronic diseases.