Alexithymic Characteristics in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease *

Twenty patients with inflammatory bowel disease and twenty psychoneurotic patients were studied to assess differences in psychopathology, verbal expression and fantasy formation. The method combined clinical observation, self-assessment questionnaires and quantified projective tests. The psychoneurotic patients showed a higher level of psychopathology, were more verbally expressive, more able to verbalize emotion, and better able to modulate their emotions. Differences in fantasy formation were not found. The results provide partial support for the concept of alexithymia (pensée opératoire), a cluster of cognitive traits which have been reported in many psychosomatic patients.