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Alexithymia in essential hypertensive and psychiatric outpatients: a comparative study.
- Source :
-
Journal of psychosomatic research [J Psychosom Res] 1995 Nov; Vol. 39 (8), pp. 987-94. - Publication Year :
- 1995
-
Abstract
- The purported association between alexithymia and essential hypertension was investigated in a sample of 114 hypertensive patients using the well-validated twenty-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale. Alexithymia was also assessed in a group of 113 general psychiatric outpatients and in a group of 130 normal adults. A rate of 55.3% of alexithymia was found in the hypertensive group compared with significantly lower rates of 32.7% in the psychiatric group and 16.3% in the normal controls. The results support the view that a high prevalence of alexithymia may be found among patients with disorders that were categorized in the past as "classical" psychosomatic diseases. It is hypothesized that a deficit in the cognitive processing and modulation of emotions may leave alexithymic individuals prone to states of heightened sympathetic arousal that are conducive to the development of essential hypertension.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 0022-3999
- Volume :
- 39
- Issue :
- 8
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Journal of psychosomatic research
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 8926608
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-3999(95)00506-4