Alexithymia and Self-Esteem in a Sample of Opioid Dependent Males: a Controlled Study
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Alexithymia and Self-Esteem in a Sample of Opioid Dependent Males: a Controlled Study Medine Giynas Ayhan 1 & Hilal Seven 1 & Ali Hakan Ozturk 1 & Seda Kirci Ercan 1 & Basak Demirel 1 & İbrahim Eren 1 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2018
Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of alexithymia in opioid dependents compared to the controls and to examine the relationship between alexithymia and depression, anxiety, and self-esteem in opioid dependents. Fifty male heroin-dependent outpatients who completed the detoxification process according to DSM-IV TR diagnostic criteria and 50 control subjects matched for age, gender, and education status who do not abuse heroin or any other substances were included in the study. Subjects were interviewed by using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-I). Variables of interest were assessed according to Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). Forty-two percent of the opioid dependents were estimated as alexithymic according to the cut-off scores of TAS-20 (> 61), while this ratio was 10% for the control group. The mean TAS-20 score in the dependent group was significantly higher than in the control group. BDI, BAI, and RSES scores were also found to be significantly higher in the dependent group, particularly in the alexithymic opioid dependent group. There were significant positive correlations between TAS-20 and BDI, BAI, and RSES scores. Further studies are needed to understand the negative effects of alexithymia and lower self-esteem on opioid dependence. Keywords Opioid dependence . Alexithymia . Self-esteem . Anxiety . Depression Opioid dependence is a chronic, recurrent public health problem. It has somatic, psychological, and behavioral symptoms and a high mortality rate (Bjornaas et al. 2008; Chen and Lin 2009). Although the etiology is still unclear, factors such as biological, psychological, socioeconomic, and personality characteristics are thought to play a role (Connock et al. 2007; Dervaux and Krebs 2004).
* Medine Giynas Ayhan [email protected]
1
Department of Psychiatry, Konya Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Konya, Turkey
International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction
Alexithymia, which is considered as a personality characteristic, means inability to describe emotions with words. Alexithymic individuals experience difficulties in recognizing and expressing their emotions, in emotion regulation and in making sense of somatic sensations (Sifneos 1973). It was initially reported to be widespread in psychosomatic disorders (Dereboy 1990) and was considered to be a personality characteristic rather than a condition which can be manifested in various psychiatric and somatic disorders over time (Bankier et al. 2001; Dereboy 1990; Sifneos 1973). It has been reported that the prevalence of alexithymia varies from 0 to 28% in people with no clinical illness
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