Landa,
Alla (5/09) Beyond the unexplainable pain: relational dynamics and alexithymia
in somatization (Philip Wong, Ph.D.; Gary Kose, Ph.D.; Barry Ritzler, Ph.D.)
Somatization is a very common,
debilitating and challenging to treat condition. While psychological problems
are recognized as its major etiological factor, the more specific causative
mechanisms of this phenomenon are still unknown. The purpose of this study was
to explore how problems with emotional regulation interact with the ability to
establish interpersonal relationships in the development of somatization
syndromes. Specifically, the study aimed at exploring relational patterns and
their association with alexithymia in somatizing patients, which may further
our understanding of this phenomenon and contribute to development of new
targeted treatments for this condition. Twenty patients diagnosed with
Somatization Disorder, Pain Disorder, or Undifferentiated Somatoform Disorder,
recruited from several hospitals in New York City, and twenty age-, gender-,
ethnicity- and education-matched healthy controls completed the Relationship
Anecdotes Paradigm (RAP) interview from which Core Conflictual Relationship
Themes (CCRT) were extracted, as well as other measures of somatization,
alexithymia, object relations, interpersonal trust/mistrust, and history of
relational trauma. The results of the study suggested that somatizing patients
presented with significantly higher rates of alexithymia than healthy controls
and endorsed significantly more unmet need for closeness with others,
interpersonal mistrust and history of interpersonal trauma than healthy
controls, supporting the study hypotheses. These findings have direct
implications for treatment of somatization disorders and for the future
research on etiology and treatment of somatization and alexithymia.
