Relationship Between Alexithymia and Social Anxiety in Female Outpatients with Dermatological Disorder Presenting for Psychiatric Consultation

The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between alexithymia and social anxiety symptoms in female outpatients with dermatological disorder. Fifty consecutive patients sent to a psychiatry outpatient clinic for consultation from a dermatology outpatient clinic were included in the study. Social anxiety symptoms showed significant correlations with depression, trait anxiety, alexithymia and global psychiatric symptom severity. A multivariate analysis of covariance demonstrated that subscales of the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) were related to alexithymia and trait anxiety. The “difficulty in describing feelings” (DDF) dimension of alexithymia and trait anxiety appear to be important factors in this relationship between social anxiety and alexithymia. Results of this study suggest that patients with dermatological disorder may benefit from both treatment of social anxiety symptoms and learning how to regulate their affects and emotional expression.