Understanding Alexithymia & Interoception

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Today, I'll be discussing alexithymia, a term used to describe difficulty identifying and describing emotions.

Approximately one in 10 people experience this condition, but it doesn't mean they lack emotions; rather, they struggle to recognize and articulate their feelings.

As an occupational therapist, I'm more interested in exploring the underlying cause of alexithymia, and researchers have found that interoception plays a crucial role in this experience.

Interoception is a sense that allows us to feel internal sensations within our body, which, in turn, drive our emotional experiences. For example, I might notice a gnawing feeling in my stomach, indicating hunger, or a racing heart and tight chest, indicating anxiety.

By understanding interoception, we can delve deeper into the root cause of alexithymia and move beyond just the surface term. Language difficulty in describing emotions is also linked to interoception, as our internal sensations ground the concepts of emotions and feeling words.

If experiencing alexithymia or supporting someone who does, there are a few tips to consider.

First, get regulated by stabilizing the nervous system and creating a safe environment. Then, evoke and connect internal sensations through playful activities like games or everyday tasks like washing hands. Embrace the uniqueness of emotional experiences; there's no wrong way to feel, so explore your inner experience and clues to emotions uniquely for you.

Lastly, be kind to yourself and remember it's okay not to know exactly how you feel all the time; keep trying to connect with yourself, notice patterns, and link sensations to emotions.

Interoception research offers valuable insights into addressing alexithymia, encouraging us to look beyond the surface and discover the profound relationship between our internal sensations and emotional experiences.

Keep exploring and understanding yourself, as these interoceptive sensations hold powerful clues to your emotional journey.
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#interoception and alexithymia #interoception , #interoceptive science, #interoceptive awareness
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You are one of the best people I've heard talk about this, in that you seem to be trying to do more than give a simple definition. One problem can be that the person is in so much sensory or emotional pain that these may override other sensations. For instance, if I connect with my emotions, that also means acknowledging that my body may be in scream pain. That's a real deterrent! Also, our (autism) emotions may not fit into the neat "emotion" terms that exist in our language. (I had a college-level voc by 10, and have a master's degree and am a writer, so vocabulary isn't the problem). I've found that making up my own compound words for what I'm feeling is helping. Some emotions, for me, come in amorphous shapes; like balls of tangled yarn that have to be consciously addressed and then picked apart. Once the emotions/reasons for the emotions have been identified, then I can assign that complex emotion a name. That has actually helped.

goatsandroses
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I have no problem feeling physical sensation like hot, cold, pain, etc.. What good does it do to recognize that the dish water is hot? I still have no emotion about it. The emotions i can feel are: Anxiety, hopelessness, sorrow, hate, rage, and pity.

DAClub-ufbr
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This could be a game changer for individuals with learning disabilities & mental illnesses finding this clue.

alphadog
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Could be due to trauma and the freeze response

cherylwilsherlimberlife