Are anorexia nervosa patients alexithymic?

Clinical descriptions of affective expression and fantasy life in anorexia nervosa patients suggest that they could be considered as alexithymic; weight restoration could improve these feature. Using some Rorschach indices and the MMPI subscale of Kleiger and Kinsman as standards of alexithymia, we studied a group of 35 anorexia nervosa patients at low and restored weight and a control group of 35 neurotic patients. The results on the Rorschach indices indicate that the anorexia nervosa group is not more alexithymic than the control group and that weight restoration does not influence the phenomenon. The findings with regard to the MMPI alexithymia subscale do not permit clear conclusions; they confirm the doubts, expressed by some authors, about the value of this scale in the measurement of alexithymia.