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Possible Alexithymia Questions
10.12.2018 by Devin_Brundidge

Ok so I have not been formally diagnosed with Alexithymia and I'm not here to self-diagnose/ask for a diagnosis. I'm talking to my psychiatrist on it tomorrow and wish to be informed on a few questions about Alexithymia. 1. From my personal experiences of life, emotions have basically been non-existent. I've always been a high energy person as there was never any emotional consequence for it and even though the shell was fake I'd put it out because I could. But I'm also extremely empathetic, like stupidly empathetic. Which I've seen things saying it is either uncharacteristic or possible for Alexithymia and wanted information firsthand from those who have been diagnosed. 2. I am also extremely imaginative partly thanks to my ADHD and I have noticed that high levels of imagination is also uncharacteristic of Alexithymia and wish to have some insight on that too.

11.12.2018 by Jute

I don't have an official diagnosis of Alexithymia. I don't think it's very easy to obtain one, as many medical professionals are unfamiliar with the condition. I'm not sure how an official diagnosis would help, as there doesn't seem to be any sort of treatment for the condition either. Anyway, I'm also not sure how much help my reply will be as I am autistic (I do have an official diagnosis for that) and perhaps that complicates the issue in my respect. I do however experience strong emotions, I'm just unable to clearly identify what those emotions are. Personally I am not empathic, but I have read posts on this forum from other users who state that they are. I am imaginative and have written both poetry and prose, as well as producing work in visual arts. However I do find that my creativity always requires an initial external spark to set it in motion. Once I find that, I can then run with it, and frequently take it into unusual and imaginative directions, but without some sort of initial 'seed' my imagination tends to be virtually non existent.

23.06.2019 by Sennomo

Hello Devin,

I'm in a similar situation: also diagnosed with ADHD, acting like an empath, with wild imagination and dreams. My guess is that since Alexithymia is more like a holistic trait rather than a totally independent disorder, parts of it could be subject to change or variations due to other conditions like ADHD. I hypothesize that Aspergers, AS's, etc. might have their own version(s) of Alexithymia; however, I have not had enough evidence to examine my hypothesis.

Let me know what you think.

10.09.2019 by Conforming_deviant

I like your hypothesis.
Being human is certainly more complicated than my childhood led me to believe.

10.09.2019 by Conforming_deviant

I like your hypothesis.
Being human is certainly more complicated than my childhood led me to believe.

18.09.2019 by chroniclown

honestly @Sennomo seems to be correct. i don't think alexithymia is meant to be an entirely independent psychiatric disorder, and more often than not comes comorbid. having other neurodivergencies or mental illnesses would definitely affect how alexithymia presents in you, but it shouldn't delegitimize the experience. i hope discussions with your psychiatrist help you in this!!