Alexithymia is a term denoting difficulty in understanding and verbal expression of emotions, difficulty in distinguishing between physical and emotional sensations, focusing on the external rather than the internal, as well as the attraction to logical and concrete thinking, to the detriment of emotional reactions.
In a broader sense, alexithymia in psychology also means low emotional involvement in interpersonal and social relationships.
This phenomenon refers to psychological problems, is not a disease, and is not included in the international classification of diseases.
Aleksitimiyu refers to the characteristics of the nervous system, and it is not related to mental abilities. According to statistics, various manifestations of deviation occur in 5-25% of people.
Not only psychologists, but also psychiatrists, neurologists, and sociologists are studying the deviation. In psychiatry and psychology, there is an opinion that alexymia is a manifestation of a broad problem of society in which the expression of emotion is sacrificed to stereotypes.
The main volume of communication takes place in a network where emotions are expressed with the help of emoticons, speech of a person is impoverished and accordingly emotional intellect is impoverished.
Neurological studies of patients with alexithymia showed the presence of anomalies in two areas of the brain. One of the 
areas is responsible for emotions, the other for information analysis, training, decision-making.
However, doctors do not have an unequivocal opinion whether there is a connection between these disorders and this disorder, or the alexithymia itself, as a psychological difficulty, leads to data abnormal phenomena in the brain. At the moment, research is continuing in this area.
From the point of view of sociology, alexithymia is the result of education, since emotional manifestations are taboo in some families. Also, the lack of physical contact in childhood negatively affects a person's ability to express emotions.
Psychiatrists believe that the child's harmonious development of thoughts and feelings is due to physical perception and sensory stimuli. And his absence leads to limiting the emotional imagination.
Why can not I express my emotions? !
Alexithymia can be congenital( primary) and acquired( secondary).The congenital form of the disease is a consequence of malformations of the fetus, the emergence of pathologies during pregnancy and childbirth, as well as diseases that have been transferred to childhood. The patient may not understand his difference from others, and not try to fight this condition.
Secondary alexithymia often appears in adulthood, and there may be no physical illness. Violation can occur with such unfavorable factors as mental disorders, nervous shock and breakdowns, mental trauma, stress.
Psychologists consider alexithymia as a protective mechanism of a person, which is included in intolerable affects. Constant suppression of feelings and emotional reactions is a habit, emotional dullness begins to develop. In this case, even in the absence of stressful situations, feelings and emotions become less pronounced.
Doctors assume the influence of education on the appearance of a disorder in an adult. In the case of imposing certain behavioral stereotypes from childhood, a person may lack the ability to express one's own feelings. There are also many studies aimed at finding a link between the development of the disorder and organic brain disorders.
How it looks - look inside and out
First of all, alexithymia manifests itself in the complexity of perception and manifestation of emotions. Such people can feel the full range of emotions, 
however has difficulties in describing these feelings and emotions with the help of words. As a consequence, there may be problems with understanding the emotional reactions of surrounding people. Also, they are not capable of empathy - empathy, not being selfish at the same time.
People with this disorder may have a desire for solitude, isolation.
Individuals with a disorder are not in a neutral or indifferent state, they experience negative emotions, and also experience devastation. This is caused by discomfort and tension, arising from the inability to determine and express feelings.
Such people also have problems with the imagination and the manifestation of fantasy, because of which there is the impossibility of creative work.
Alexithymia can lead to the absence of dreams, or to dreams that have a domestic character. Such individuals are not inclined to dreams, fantasies, do not rely on intuition. There can also be confusion between bodily sensations and emotional experiences.
Not alexithimic you - find out right now!
There are several universally accepted and applied methods for testing alexithymia:
- Methodology "Emotional dictionary ".The patient is asked to write the maximum number of emotional states within a few minutes. The experience of using this technique shows that you should pay attention to patients who could indicate fewer than 15 emotions.
- The Toronto Alexithymia Scale is a test of 26 statements, each with 5 answers. While performing the test, the patient uses the answers from "strongly disagree" to "absolutely agree".It is believed that individuals who score 74 points or more in this test have alexithymia. The absence of a violation is indicated by a score of less than 62 points.
- The Rorschach test allows you to notice the obvious manifestations of the disorder, since people with this disorder have limited imagination, and to describe Rorsharch's spots, fantasy is required.
- Techniques aimed at determining the ability to recognize emotions by intonation and facial expressions .People suffering from alexithymia have difficulty in recognizing anger, sadness, joy, while disgust, surprise and fear are easily determined by them.
Correction and recovery of emotional status
Primary alexithymia is difficult to treat. The acquired disorder can be successfully cured. The main therapeutic method is psychotherapy, namely such areas as Gestalt therapy, psychodynamic techniques( modified and conventional), art therapy and hypnosis.
However, not all methods of psychotherapy are appropriate. Traditional psychoanalysis will be ineffective, becauseis aimed at avoiding the expression of 
feelings during sessions with the therapist. Psychotherapeutic treatment is designed so that the patient can learn to understand and express feelings, help in the development of the imagination.
Treatment of alexithymia may take more than a year. At the initial stages, the results are unlikely, during this period, the support of close people is needed. The success of therapy depends on the patient's desire to bring changes to his inner world.
At the moment, the effectiveness of drug treatment has not been proven. There is evidence of successful treatment with benzodiazepine tranquilizers. An integrated approach is most preferable.
Drug treatment and the therapist's work should be carried out not only with psychosomatic symptoms, but also with such primary causes as depressive states, psychoemotional stress, anxiety. It is also necessary to pay attention to the balance of metabolism, the hormonal background of the patient.
Exacerbation of
The presence of alexithymia in a person does not imply an absolute lack of emotion, but there is a problem in expressing them. In the subconscious, feelings and their bodily manifestations accumulate and remain unexpressed.
As a result, there may be disturbances in the ratio of hormones, and the development of psychosomatic disorders begins. The consequence of repressed emotions can be the development of hypertension, dermatitis, ischemic disease, allergic reactions, colitis, gastritis, peptic ulcer, bronchial asthma, migraines and other diseases.
Inability to express one's own feelings can lead to irregular eating, and as a result, the appearance of excess weight. This disorder can also lead to alcohol or drug dependence.
