About one in ten is feeling blind

The inability to adequately interpret one's own emotions: About one in ten is blind

Almost one in ten Germans is considered blind. This is the inability to adequately perceive and describe one's own feelings. The technical term is a Greek word for art and is called "alexithymia". For emotional blindness, genetic factors may play a major role, but also socialization seems to play a crucial role. Some individuals have been observed to be severely neglected or physically tormented in early childhood.

Almost 11 percent of Germans are affected by alexithymia
Alexithymia affects many more people than one would expect. "About eleven percent of Germans are affected, in the mentally ill is one in five," said the director of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the Berlin Charité, Prof. Dr. med. Isabella Heuser. In general, this term refers to a person's difficulty in adequately perceiving one's own emotions and interpreting them accordingly. Those affected are also incapable of interpreting the feelings of other people accordingly. This results in far-reaching consequences for the person concerned.

International conference on alexithymia
The technical name "Alexithym" was first coined for these people in 1974. Since then, the emotional disorder has been increasingly explored by medical professionals and psychologists. Experts are now planning an international conference on this phenomenon for the first time in Berlin. At the center of the conference program are the interplay of triggering factors and the areas in which alexithymia may affect, including facial expressions and gestures, pain sensations or empathy. Imaging studies such as magnetic resonance imaging provide insights into the processing of emotions in the human brain. Scientists from the cluster's research projects will also present their research results. The Konfernez "Berlin Alexithymia Conference 2010" is organized by the working group Alexithymia of the Cluster of Excellence "Languages ​​of Emotion". The conference will take place from 8 to 9 November 2010 in the Freie Universität Berlin.

Social difficulties in everyday life
For those affected, the inability to interpret emotions is a major social problem. Especially the emotional intelligence is extremely important in our society. Especially in professional life, people have extremely difficult, here again and again so-called "soft skills" are asked. Isabella Heuser explains. The very ones lack alexithymic people. A "feeling blindness" is not a disease, but a significant feature of humans. "Alexithyms prefer to talk about subject matter and are rather short when it comes to emotional areas." Those affected often have disturbed relationships with other people in everyday life, because emotional intelligence is extremely important for interpersonal communication. In addition, Alexithyms are much more susceptible to mental illness like depression, as the expert explains.

Patients often transmit emotional distress to physical complaints
Those affected often emanate from emotional discomfort to physical symptoms. "They say they have a headache or stomach ache - actually like children," says the scientist. Dodging on psychosomatic symptoms is very reminiscent of children, because toddlers are also "alexithymic beings" who learn to express their feelings and interpret the emotions of others as they develop.

Genetic factors and physical abuse
According to the expert, genetic factors play a major role in the occurrence of alexithymia. "But there are also indications that childhood neglect, growing up in a poor family and physical abuse are among the risk factors." However, there are also hopes for those affected. The psychiatrist assumes that alexithymia is also treatable. Because the "human being is able to learn all his life," adds the expert. However, a suitable form of therapy still needs to be developed. The congress in Berlin could take another step in the right direction. (sb, 01.11.2010)

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