Given that mental health plays a leading role in ensuring dynamism and efficiency in any society, the present study aimed to investigate the correlations of alexithymia and perceived stress with mental health among the medical students. The present work was a descriptive and correlational study, and the statistical population comprised all students in the 18-31 age range studying at Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences during the academic year 2013-2014 (N=3730). Then a sample of 591 students was collected through the stratified random sampling. For data collection, three instruments were utilized: Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) by Begbie et al. (1994), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) by Cohen et al. (1983), and General Health Questionnaire
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It refers to one’s inability to recognize and express emotions, use concrete speech and thoughts associated with external events, and paucity of fantasies in life. Alexithymia comprises four main characteristics: 1) difficulties identifying feelings (DIF), 2) difficulties describing feelings (DDF), 3) constricted imagination, and 4) concrete cognitive styles (). Alexithymia is seen by some others as one’s reduced ability to identify and describe feelings as well as one’s inability to distinguish between them (). It is viewed by some others as a personality trait that includes disorders in perceiving somatic positions, cognitive responses to those positions, and verbal communication (). From the perspective of cognitive sciences, emotions are viewed as a set of schemas that are based on information processing and include processes, symbolic and non-symbolic visualizations (). Individuals suffering from emotional dysregulation (ED) will not able to detect and distinguish between their emotions and can 't perceive and describe their thoughts and feelings (). They also exaggerate the normal physical arousals, and the physical symptoms of emotional arousal are misinterpreted (). This deficiency prevents emotional self-regulation and impedes successful adaptation (). Moreover, some studies have pointed to the relationship between this personality trait and the psychological processing
It refers to one’s inability to recognize and express emotions, use concrete speech and thoughts associated with external events, and paucity of fantasies in life. Alexithymia comprises four main characteristics: 1) difficulties identifying feelings (DIF), 2) difficulties describing feelings (DDF), 3) constricted imagination, and 4) concrete cognitive styles (). Alexithymia is seen by some others as one’s reduced ability to identify and describe feelings as well as one’s inability to distinguish between them (). It is viewed by some others as a personality trait that includes disorders in perceiving somatic positions, cognitive responses to those positions, and verbal communication (). From the perspective of cognitive sciences, emotions are viewed as a set of schemas that are based on information processing and include processes, symbolic and non-symbolic visualizations (). Individuals suffering from emotional dysregulation (ED) will not able to detect and distinguish between their emotions and can 't perceive and describe their thoughts and feelings (). They also exaggerate the normal physical arousals, and the physical symptoms of emotional arousal are misinterpreted (). This deficiency prevents emotional self-regulation and impedes successful adaptation (). Moreover, some studies have pointed to the relationship between this personality trait and the psychological processing