Background & Aims

Alexithymia, a neuropsychological phenomenon characterized by emotional suppression, is prevalent among patients with various refractory mental disorders such as chronic pain and depression. Although alexithymia affects 10% of the symptomatic population and 25% of psychiatric patients (Franz M, 2008), there has been a paucity of intervention studies (Nunes da Silva, 2021). Several effective methods have been developed and tested in recent years, but there is a lack of comprehensive reviews of their efficacy. The objectives of this project are to synthesize findings from prior alexithymia treatment studies and develop a standardized treatment program tailored to a broad range of patient characteristics. A scoping review will first be done to comprehensively explore the literature to identify effective treatments. Subsequently, we aim to develop a knowledge-based ontology to logically represent the process of emotion acquisition in patients prone to emotional suppression.

Methods

Study 1: Alexithymia Treatment Research Scoping Review and Treatment Program Development Using the PubMed and PsycInfo databases, a literature search will be done with the search formula “(Alexithymia OR “Emotional regulation”) AND (intervention OR treatment)” to synthesize a scoping review. An English version of the “Alexithymia Treatment Program” will be created that will allow patients to choose individualized and effective treatments. The digitized treatment program will incorporate behavioral therapy frameworks, to promote self-efficacy and independent use of group work, writing tasks, and other experiences suitable for remote learning.
Study 2: Ontology Modeling of Treatment Programs Computerization will be done using the ontology language OWL DL and the editing tool Protégé at the NICHE laboratory of the Department of Computer Science, Dalhousie University, Canada. The data will be transformed into an application formatted for use on computers and tablet devices.

Results

We have compiled all available experimental alexithymia treatment studies to provide a comprehensive overview of treatments, including ART (Alexithymia Reduction Treatment), EAET (Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy), SEL (Social-Emotion Learning), and EAT (Emotion Focused Therapy).

Conclusions

This prospectus outlines alexithymia treatment research aimed at developing the first integrated alexithymia treatment. The research findings will be translated into ontology models for computer application, facilitating implementation in clinical settings.

References

Franz M, Popp K, Schaefer R, Sitte W, Schneider C, Hardt J, Decker O, Braehler E. Alexithymia in the German general population. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2008 Jan;43(1):54-62. doi: 10.1007/s00127-007-0265-1. Epub 2007 Oct 12. PMID: 17934682.
Nunes da Silva A. Developing Emotional Skills and the Therapeutic Alliance in Clients with Alexithymia: Intervention Guidelines. Psychopathology. 2021;54(6):282-290. doi: 10.1159/000519786. Epub 2021 Nov 8. PMID: 34749373.

Presenting Author

Kanako Tsubaki

Poster Authors

Kanako Tsubaki

MD

Chiba University

Lead Author

Topics

  • Treatment/Management: Pharmacology: Psychological and Rehabilitative Therapies