Alexithymia in social anxiety disorder: is there a specific relationship or is it a feature of comorbid major depression?

Objective: Alexithymia has been extensively studied in the literature regarding its relationship with major depression. However, patients with anxiety related problems also have high alexithymic traits. Our study aimed to assess the presence of alexithymia and clinical variables associated with it in a specific subset of patients with anxiety, namely social anxiety disorder (SAD).Methods: 140 patients with generalized type SAD were assessed by using Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20), Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Global Assessment of Functioning Scale (GAF). Participants with TAS-20 scores ≥61 were considered as alexithymic and they were compared with non-alexithymic (TAS-20 [Anadolu Psikiyatri Derg 2015; 16(2.000): 130-137]