Alexithymia

Abstract

PATIENTS who present with vague, ill-described physical symptoms often pose difficult problems for primary care physicians. Many of these patients have long histories of somatic symptoms and poor responses to standard medical treatment. Physicians often react with feelings of frustration and anger, making it more difficult to provide adequate care. The psychiatric diagnoses for such patients usually fall into the major categories of the somatoform disorders, depressive disorders (including masked depression), anxiety disorders, and sometimes malingering.Some patients who respond poorly to medical interventions may defy placement in any established psychiatric diagnostic category. They may have a long-standing personality style . . .