Alexithymia, emotion identification and social inference in anorexia nervosa

An impaired emotional functioning and alexithymic traits are core elements of Eating Disorders (EDs), and particularly of Anorexia Nervosa. ED patients have difficulties identifying feelings and often mislabel adverse emotional states as feeling fat. Emotional and relational problems fade behind the extreme concreteness of ED symptoms, with the ED becoming a "concretised metaphor". The aim of this chapter is to describe the theoretical background concerning anorexic patients' difficulties in identifying emotions. In conclusion, a research approach which may add to the existing knowledge about alexithymic traits, facial emotion recognition and social inference skills in ED patients will be briefly outlined.