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- Title
Alexithymia in male infertility.
- Authors
Conrad, R; Schilling, G; Langenbuch, M; Haidl, G; Liedtke, R
- Abstract
The continuing confrontation with the thoughts and feelings surrounding an unfulfilled wish for a child makes coping very difficult. There is empirical evidence that, in medical illnesses associated with stress and loss of quality of life, patients react with alexithymia, which means a difficulty to communicate emotions. In this study we compared 84 infertile men with a group of 96 healthy men and 43 male psychosomatic outpatients concerning their ability to communicate feelings, measured by the Twenty-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale and the amount of psychopathologically relevant symptoms, especially somatization, measured by the Symptom Checklist 90-R and a List of Complaints (Beschwerden-Liste). The results showed a significantly higher alexithymia in infertile men compared with healthy men (P < 0.05), but a significantly lower alexithymia compared with psychosomatic outpatients (P < 0.05). Furthermore the study group showed significantly more somatic complaints in the List of Complaints compared with healthy men (P < 0.05). The importance of alexithymia in male infertility is discussed on the basis of empirical results that it might play a defensive role as far as depression is concerned but on the other hand increases the possibility of somatic complaints. The need for prospective studies in further research is emphasized.
- Subjects
MENTAL health; INFERTILITY; ALEXITHYMIA; COMMUNICATION; COMPARATIVE studies; EMOTIONS; RESEARCH methodology; MEDICAL cooperation; REFERENCE values; RESEARCH; SOMATOFORM disorders; EVALUATION research; PSYCHOSOMATIC disorders
- Publication
Human Reproduction, 2001, Vol 16, Issue 3, p587
- ISSN
0268-1161
- Publication type
journal article
- DOI
10.1093/humrep/16.3.587