Alexithymia: When There Are No Words for Feelings
"I don't know what I feel" — this phrase perfectly describes a condition called alexithymia. It is not a clinical illness, but rather a psychological feature, a kind of "emotional blindness" where a person loses contact with their inner world.
How Does Alexithymia Manifest?
Often, people with alexithymia are highly functional, logical, and composed. However, when it comes to emotions, they experience significant difficulties. The main indicators are:
- Inability to distinguish between an emotion and a bodily sensation (e.g., confusing anxiety with a stomach ache or hunger).
- Lack of words to describe their feelings (their emotional vocabulary is often limited to "good," "bad," or "normal").
- Focusing on external events rather than internal experiences.
- Extremely practical and logical thinking, with very little room for fantasies, dreams, or creativity.
There is a gold standard for diagnosis — the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Take this test to understand how accessible your emotional world is to you.
Take the TAS-20 Test →Alexithymia and the Body
If an emotion is not recognized and spoken out loud, it doesn't just disappear. It gets "stuck" in the body in the form of muscle tension and functional disorders. This is exactly why alexithymia is a constant companion of psychosomatic disorders. The body begins to "scream" through illnesses in places where the mind remains silent.