Alexithymia is a personality trait that appears as difficulties in defining and describing personal emotions. The symptoms include the inability to express in words own emotions and feelings. Therefore, a person relies more on logic. Hence, there is often an inability to understand the emotions of others, difficulties with reacting to the feelings of others, challenges with showing empathy. Due to this trait, there is the concreteness of thinking and a tendency to judge others.

Often, alexithymia is one of the key symptoms in a person with obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic attacks, anxiety, depression, social anxiety, eating disorders. At some level, persons with alexithymia know their own reduced emotional reaction. This fact makes them feel uncomfortable. Due to weak coping mechanisms with such experiences, people with alexithymia often abuse psychoactive substances.

Alexithymia significantly affects relationships because an alexithymic does not have an emotional awareness of his own feelings, let alone the feelings of others. This leads the person to an emotional detachment from the surrounding people. In a relationship, a person with alexithymia can manifest himself in different ways.  The style of behavior can be dominant, dependent, passive-aggressive, or impersonal. It is impossible to build a harmonious relationship based on understanding, acceptance, and respect for the partner's boundaries and own one. Also, there is a lack of social attachment, increased social anxiety, and a tendency to superficial relationships with alexithymia. The loneliness grows even in the presence of marriage and children because, with such a psychological feature, a person perceives the world, people, actions, and relationships in black and white.

Is it possible to get rid of alexithymia? The answer is, of course. It is viable and vital. The essential process component is the clients' work with their own feelings and emotions during psychological counseling. As a result of such session with a specialist, the clients monitor their feelings, learns to understand them, get rid of internal tension, become more productive in everyday activities, harmonically build relationships with others.