Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2017 Aug 14:8:148.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2017.00148. eCollection 2017.

Alexithymia and Suicide Risk in Psychiatric Disorders: A Mini-Review

Domenico De Berardis  1   2 , Michele Fornaro  3   4 , Laura Orsolini  4   5   6 , Alessandro Valchera  4   6 , Alessandro Carano  7 , Federica Vellante  1   2 , Giampaolo Perna  8   9   10 , Gianluca Serafini  11 , Xenia Gonda  12   13   14 , Maurizio Pompili  15 , Giovanni Martinotti  2 , Massimo Di Giannantonio  2
Affiliations
Review

Alexithymia and Suicide Risk in Psychiatric Disorders: A Mini-Review

Domenico De Berardis et al. Front Psychiatry. .

Abstract

It is well known that alexithymic individuals may show significantly higher levels of anxiety, depression, and psychological suffering than non-alexithymics. There is an increasing evidence that alexithymia may be considered a risk factor for suicide, even simply increasing the risk of development of depressive symptoms or per se. Therefore, the purpose of this narrative mini-review was to elucidate a possible relationship between alexithymia and suicide risk. The majority of reviewed studies pointed out a relationship between alexithymia and an increased suicide risk. In several studies, this relationship was mediated by depressive symptoms. In conclusion, the importance of alexithymia screening in everyday clinical practice and the evaluation of clinical correlates of alexithymic traits should be integral parts of all disease management programs and, especially, of suicide prevention plans and interventions. However, limitations of studies are discussed and must be considered.

Keywords: alexithymia; prevention; psychiatric disorders; stress; suicide risk.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Porcelli P, Zaka S, Leoci C, Centonze S, Taylor GJ. Alexithymia in inflammatory bowel disease. A case-control study. Psychother Psychosom (1995) 64:49–53.10.1159/000288990 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bankier B, Aigner M, Bach M. Alexithymia in DSM-IV disorder: comparative evaluation of somatoform disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and depression. Psychosomatics (2001) 42:235–40.10.1176/appi.psy.42.3.235 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Carano A, De Berardis D, Gambi F, Di Paolo C, Campanella D, Pelusi L, et al. Alexithymia and body image in adult outpatients with binge eating disorder. Int J Eat Disord (2006) 39:332–40.10.1002/eat.20238 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Taylor GJ, Bagby RM. New trends in alexithymia research. Psychother Psychosom (2004) 73:68–77.10.1159/000075537 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lester D. Alexithymia, depression, and suicidal preoccupation. Percept Mot Skills (1991) 72:1058.10.2466/pms.1991.72.3.1058 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources