Alexithymia is the inability to describe one’s own emotions, understand the experiences of others, and determine the difference between feelings and physical sensations. When discussing the emotional sphere, alexithymics exhibit difficulties in verbalizing their emotions; a predominant tendency is to talk about physiological states. The causes of alexithymia can be congenital conditions or acquired ones. Alexithymia can be acquired in the following cases: 1. Traumatic events, for example, loss of a loved one, violence, etc.2. Family environment and upbringing - there is no open expression of emotions on the part of the parents, the child’s emotions are suppressed.3. A hostile and sensitive reaction from society can create in a person a feeling of shame and fear for expressing his own emotions. People with alexithymia are characterized by the following signs: - difficulty in distinguishing between emotions and bodily sensations; - focusing primarily on external events, to the detriment of internal experiences; - a tendency to logical thinking with a deficit of emotional reactions. Alexithymia affects the difficulty of regulating one’s own behavior; the overall level of psychological health decreases (excessive internal tension, disruption of communication with the body, the occurrence of psychosomatic diseases and addictions); often accompanied by persistent pain (abdominal or back pain, headaches); also, as the disease progresses, sleep disturbances occur, self-esteem and self-esteem are reduced; low level of meaningfulness in life; a tendency to maladaptive strategies of behavior in difficult life situations. Most often, a person with alexithymia is: - I don’t understand what I feel! - I don’t like how I feel! - I don’t know what to think about my feelings! The main goal of therapy is to develop awareness of bodily sensations and emotions. This therapy helps people become more open-minded and attuned to their inner experiences, and better understand their feelings and the reason for them. You can check if you have alexithymia here https://psytests.org/diag/tas26-run.html