Questions About Alexithymia

[FayetheAspie]

This condition has been mentioned to me multiple times on this forum. I don't think I am likely to have this but have not been able to verify one way or the other with online tests because they all have had a question or two that I had no way to answer.

Reasons I probably do NOT
1. I can be very enthusiastic about certain things.
2. I have naturally occuring euphoric moods at times.(I didn't think people with alexithymia could feel strong emotions of any kind.)
3. People who know me best tend to say that I am very soft hearted.
4. I don't like for people or animals to be hurt. (Which perhaps backs up point number 3.)

Reasons I might
1. I do confuse certain emotions and certain physical symptoms with one another
2. People at jobsites and such tend to see me as generally detached. (They get confused if they ever witness the sudden switch flip when a special interest topic comes up.)
3. Even though I do care about others, I often don't know how to respond to other people's emotions and end up just standing there awkwardly.
4. I have no concept of how to respond to a potential romantic interest and just avoid by default (even though I almost always have some autistically coded fictional character or another that I have a crush on.)

Does this sound like I do or do not?

 

[Alexej]

This condition has been mentioned to me multiple times on this forum. I don't think I am likely to have this but have not been able to verify one way or the other with online tests because they all have had a question or two that I had no way to answer.

Reasons I probably do NOT
1. I can be very enthusiastic about certain things.

I am not generally enthusiastic about anything

2. I have naturally occuring euphoric moods at times.(I didn't think people with alexithymia could feel strong emotions of any kind.)

Euphoric - I don't know what that means (in me)

3. People who know me best tend to say that I am very soft hearted.

what has soft heartedness to do with alexithymia - that is a new connection to me

4. I don't like for people or animals to be hurt. (Which perhaps backs up point number 3.)

I can be indifferent on this one

Reasons I might
1. I do confuse certain emotions and certain physical symptoms with one another

I generally don't recognise them

2. People at jobsites and such tend to see me as generally detached. (They get confused if they ever witness the sudden switch flip when a special interest topic comes up.)

Detached - is there another way?

3. Even though I do care about others, I often don't know how to respond to other people's emotions and end up just standing there awkwardly.

I resemble that remark

4. I have no concept of how to respond to a potential romantic interest and just avoid by default (even though I almost always have some autistically coded fictional character or another that I have a crush on.)

In my second marriage

 

[FayetheAspie]

@Alexej So you agree that I most likely do NOT have this ?

 

[Xinyta]

Alexithyma is identified on the basis that you are unable to process and describe any emotions you are feeling. They are confusing, though you know you feel something.

Though from what you are describing. You likely do not have it. And your second list sounds more like autistic processing issues with socail, than Alexithyma.

Here is a article on Alexithyma.

I am not generally enthusiastic about anything

That sounds like apathy to me.

 

[Alexej]

@Alexej So you agree that I most likely do NOT have this ?

I don't know - I am diagnosed as autistic and have self diagnosed as alexithymic.

Your post does not say all that much about your feeling life and that is where alexi makes the bigger difference IMHO. I am loathe to give a straight answer, not that I don't want to but don't think I have enough info to come down on one side or the other.

 

[Outdated]

2. I have naturally occuring euphoric moods at times.(I didn't think people with alexithymia could feel strong emotions of any kind.)

You've mentioned this before and it made me wonder. Do these bursts of euphoria also include laughter for no real reason? More prevalent in children than adults, it's a common symptom of PTSD.

As far as I know people with alexithymia don't know if they're happy or sad, pleased or angry, etc and if they try to ponder what it is that they are feeling they really can't tell and that line of thought is confusing and stressful for them.

I think we've seen enough emotional reactions from you in this forum to say that you're probably not alexithymic. You express too much joy in learning new things.

 

[Forest Cat]

Alexithymia, I think that's a female name in Greece. But I'm off-topic.

 

[Outdated]

Alexithymia, I think that's a female name in Greece. But I'm off-topic.

This bloke has 5 daughters. Roula, Toula, Foula, Soula, and little Eguppy.

 

[FayetheAspie]

You've mentioned this before and it made me wonder. Do these bursts of euphoria also include laughter for no real reason? More prevalent in children than adults, it's a common symptom of PTSD.

As far as I know people with alexithymia don't know if they're happy or sad, pleased or angry, etc and if they try to ponder what it is that they are feeling they really can't tell and that line of thought is confusing and stressful for them.

I think we've seen enough emotional reactions from you in this forum to say that you're probably not alexithymic. You express too much joy in learning new things.

Yes. Random laughter is included. I would have reasons to have PTSD but how/why would PTSD make a person euphoric?

 

[Outdated]

....but how/why would PTSD make a person euphoric?

I'm not sure there either but in researching things about my own life I came across the diagnostic criteria for PTSD and that one was in there as one of the major indicators. I related strongly to it because that happened to me a lot during my early teens.

Once I started working I lived in an entirely different world and the old world was left behind, along with the people in it. Once my life changed those weird fits ended but in general I was a lot happier a lot more often.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

This condition has been mentioned to me multiple times on this forum. I don't think I am likely to have this but have not been able to verify one way or the other with online tests because they all have had a question or two that I had no way to answer.

Reasons I probably do NOT
1. I can be very enthusiastic about certain things.
2. I have naturally occuring euphoric moods at times.(I didn't think people with alexithymia could feel strong emotions of any kind.)
3. People who know me best tend to say that I am very soft hearted.
4. I don't like for people or animals to be hurt. (Which perhaps backs up point number 3.)

Reasons I might
1. I do confuse certain emotions and certain physical symptoms with one another
2. People at jobsites and such tend to see me as generally detached. (They get confused if they ever witness the sudden switch flip when a special interest topic comes up.)
3. Even though I do care about others, I often don't know how to respond to other people's emotions and end up just standing there awkwardly.
4. I have no concept of how to respond to a potential romantic interest and just avoid by default (even though I almost always have some autistically coded fictional character or another that I have a crush on.)

Does this sound like I do or do not?

I am alexithymic:
1. I can be very enthusiastic about certain things, almost obsessive, especially about a new special interest. I am thinking this is more of an autism trait, in general, and may not have anything to do with alexithymia.
2. Euphoric moods do occur, just not that often. Alexithymia has nothing to do with feeling strong emotion, but rather the identification of them and processing them in "appropriate" ways or at the proper times. Sometimes interactions can be emotionally confusing. I may not be able to identify the emotion for minutes, hours, or even days. There can be dysregulation. All ON or all OFF, which can confuse other people or may be socially inappropriate. As a result, my coping mechanism is to push emotions down and not react, even though I may feel them intensely.
3. I am soft hearted, in general. However, I have little patience with a lot of human behaviors, like laziness, stupidity, lack of self-discipline, bullying, etc.
4. I have a strong affinity for animals, babies, and small children. Something about their honesty and innocence that is compelling. I love baby smiles and laughs. It pretty much makes my day.

So, your first 4 points might not let you off the hook for alexithymia. LOL!

 

[Outdated]

3. I am soft hearted, in general. However, I have little patience with a lot of human behaviors, like laziness, stupidity, lack of self-discipline, bullying, etc.

That one is also very true for me. I think it mostly came from spending a lot of time with my grandfather when I was little but Trade training certainly reinforced it. I'll bend over backwards to help anyone until they make it obvious that they have no intention of helping themselves, then they're on their own.

 

[Jumpinbare]

I am alexithymic:
1. I can be very enthusiastic about certain things, almost obsessive, especially about a new special interest. I am thinking this is more of an autism trait, in general, and may not have anything to do with alexithymia.
2. Euphoric moods do occur, just not that often. Alexithymia has nothing to do with feeling strong emotion, but rather the identification of them and processing them in "appropriate" ways or at the proper times. Sometimes interactions can be emotionally confusing. I may not be able to identify the emotion for minutes, hours, or even days. There can be dysregulation. All ON or all OFF, which can confuse other people or may be socially inappropriate. As a result, my coping mechanism is to push emotions down and not react, even though I may feel them intensely.
3. I am soft hearted, in general. However, I have little patience with a lot of human behaviors, like laziness, stupidity, lack of self-discipline, bullying, etc.
4. I have a strong affinity for animals, babies, and small children. Something about their honesty and innocence that is compelling. I love baby smiles and laughs. It pretty much makes my day.

So, your first 4 points might not let you off the hook for alexithymia. LOL!

Yep, that's my fiend friend Alex.

 

[Rodafina]

Without any real knowledge in this area, I daresay it sounds a bit like another spectrum. Is it not common for autistic people to have trouble identifying their emotions even without the presence of alexithymia? Isn’t identifying emotions something that can be learned over time? Does the presence of alexithymia prevent this learning?

I will do some digging to understand better, but interested in what folks here think.

For my part, I think I fall into the category of having trouble identifying my emotions and needing extra time to process and understand them, but not alexithymic. These are things that have improved for me over time.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

Without any real knowledge in this area, I daresay it sounds a bit like another spectrum. Is it not common for autistic people to have trouble identifying their emotions even without the presence of alexithymia? Isn’t identifying emotions something that can be learned over time? Does the presence of alexithymia prevent this learning?

I will do some digging to understand better, but interested in what folks here think.

For my part, I think I fall into the category of having trouble identifying my emotions and needing extra time to process and understand them, but not alexithymic. These are things that have improved for me over time.

As you likely know, alexithymia is a common co-morbidity with autism, and like ADHD, another common co-morbidity, as individuals, there appears to be a spectrum, as you suggest.

As much as we cringe when we hear people say, "We are all on the autism spectrum." and we feel it to be a minimizing statement, I might suggest that they aren't entirely wrong on some level. I am of the mind that so-called neurotypicals do experience, from time to time, "autistic moments", albeit not nearly as frequent as us. This gets to the heart of the question of, "By what metrics does it become a diagnosable condition?" Many would suggest when it becomes a chronic situation that affects daily living. However, because these things are on a spectrum, even that definition becomes a bit nebulous. It's for this reason I question the behavioral component, the psychology and psychiatry. Sure, if you are on the extreme end of the bell curve, it is obvious, but when you're not, well, what then? These are signs and symptoms. Hypothetically, if there were actual ways to measure these things, two individuals with identical measured values, may be affected differently. It's not that straight forward.

With that in mind, personally, my approach is to look at autism within the medical model, the genetics, the functional anatomy, the immunology, etc. I believe, that the diagnosis of autism should, at least in part, be done in the neurologist's and geneticist's office. We aren't there yet, only because of the limitations in our ability to neuroimage, tissue sample, and perform thorough genetic testing easily and affordably. Make no mistake, psychologists and psychiatrists have their roles, primarily as "first identifiers" of the condition from a behavioral aspect, but there is a fair amount of subjectivity and cognitive bias present. In the medical model, in the hospital, for example, we can identify signs and symptoms, but then we need to prove our suspicions with further testing, imaging, etc. Let's get some information, some facts, to fill in the picture.