Post-stroke alexithymia – a review

PURPOSE: The goal of this study is a review of the literature on the role of alexithymia among stroke patients, especially assessing its impact on the process of convalescence, psychiatric comorbidity and clinical outcomes. VIEWS: Organic alexithymia is a common post-stroke complication, which interferes with many aspects of health among stroke survivors, with interleukin-18 having an important role in the appearance and depth of alexithymia. Post-stroke patients suffering from alexithymia are more prone to depression, manifestations of which may differ from the symptoms of this shown by the non-alexithymic post-stroke population. Alexithymia is also the cause of more severe symptoms of stroke itself, as well as more severe symptoms of post-stroke post-traumatic stress disorder. It is often associated with right-hemisphere lesions, but there are findings which show that left brain insult may also be the cause; the explanation is that information transfer from right to left hemisphere causes disturbances in emotional awareness. CONCLUSIONS: Alexithymia plays an important role in the health of post-stroke patients. Assessment of the trait should be considered in their population, since it plays an important role in terms of predicting psychiatric comorbidity and severity of stroke complications, which transfers to treatment choice. Further research is required to examine other post-stroke psychiatric comorbidities associated with alexithymia and to closely determine the response of rehabilitation, including pharmacological treatment and psychological therapy.