Objective: Somatisation as a process suggests that mood changes are responded to physically rather than psychologically. This concept is linked to “medically unexplained symptoms”, including conditions such as chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia. Alexithymia, difficulty in identifying or expressing emotions, is the proposed causal mechanism. This study tested this proposal by measuring association between alexithymia and somatic symptoms and exploring whether experimentally induced mood changes are responded to by those with higher alexithymia scores with more physical than psychological sensations than those with lower alexithymia. Methods: A median split of Toronto Alexithymia Scale scores was used to create two groups (higher and lower alexithymia) from a sample of 21 participants with a diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome and / or fibromyalgia. Participants rated mood and physical and psychological state at baseline and following sad and happy mood induction. Ratio scores of psychological over physical state ratings were calculated for each mood state. Measures of depression, anxiety, somatic complaints, acceptance, beliefs about emotions and health anxiety were also administered. Results: No correlation was found between alexithymia and intensity of somatic or psychological symptoms. There was no significant difference in ratio scores by mood or between those with higher or lower alexithymia. The mood manipulation did lead to changes in psychological sensations and physical sensations. Conclusion: The alexithymia hypothesis of medically unexplained symptoms was not supported in this study using a clinical sample. Further research should include a control group of people experiencing depression or anxiety without significant physical symptoms.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:633160 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Martin, Faith |
| Contributors | Russell, Ailsa |
| Publisher | University of Bath |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
Page generated in 0.0014 seconds