What does the Toronto alexithymia scale measure?
The Toronto Alexithymia Scale is a measure of deficiency in understanding, processing, or describing emotions. It was developed in 1986 and later revised, removing some of the items. The current version has twenty statements rated on a five-point Likert scale.
How is alexithymia measured?
The total alexithymia score is the sum of responses to all 20 items, while the score for each subscale factor is the sum of the responses to that subscale. The TAS-20 uses cutoff scoring: Scores equal to or less than 51 = no alexithymia. Scores of 52–60 = possible alexithymia.
Can alexithymia be treated?
Alexithymia is a trait that makes it hard to find words for thoughts and feelings. It is experienced by both children and adults and can come in mild, moderate and severe forms. When identified, alexithymia can be treated – with the goal of making feelings and their textures easier to navigate.
What is alexithymia?
Alexithymia is a subclinical phenomenon involving a lack of emotional awareness or, more specifically, difficulty in identifying and describing feelings and in distinguishing feelings from the bodily sensations of emotional arousal (Nemiah et al., 1976).
What is alexithymia test?
The Online Alexithymia Questionnaire (OAQ-G2)is a self-administered questionnaire to measure difficulty in identifying and describing emotions and feelings, and distinguishing among the accompanying bodily sensations.
Who created the Toronto alexithymia scale?
Bagby et al.
3 The Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) The TAS was developed by Bagby et al. (1994) to measure alexithymia or difficulty in experiencing, identifying, describing and verbally communicating one’s feelings to others.
Is there a test for alexithymia?
The TAS-20 assesses three facets of alexithymia: difficulty identifying feelings, difficulty describing feelings, and externally oriented thinking. Although alexithymia scores are continuous, this measure has an empirically-derived cut score that identifies people who are alexithymic.
Is alexithymia a disability?
Researchers describe alexithymia as a construct relating to a difficulty experiencing, identifying, and expressing emotions. It is not a clinical diagnosis, and mental health professionals do not consider it a disorder, although it may occur alongside some mental health conditions.
What do you call a person with alexithymia?
Nonmedical terms describing similar conditions include emotionless and impassive. People with the condition are called alexithymics or alexithymiacs.
Is alexithymia a mental illness?
Alexithymia is a broad term to describe problems with feeling emotions. In fact, this Greek term used in Freudian psychodynamic theories loosely translates to “no words for emotion.” While the condition is not well-known, it’s estimated that 1 in 10 people has it.