ALEXITHYMIA AND DEFENSE MECHANISMS IN PATIENTS WITH DEPRESSION, GENERALIZED ANXIETY DISORDER, OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDERS AND NORMAL INDIVIDUALS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Individuals with emotional problems experience uncontrollable and intensive negative affect. They do not have the ability to manage and regulate their acute emotional experiences. The main aim of the present study was to compare alexithymia and defense mechanisms among patients with Major Depression Disorder (MDD), Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and normal individuals. A total of 160 participants (40 patients with MDD, 40 patients with GAD, 40 patients with OCD, and 40 normal individuals) participated in this study. Following a psychiatric diagnosis of the disorders, participants were asked to complete the Farsi version of the Toronto Alexithymia scale-20 (FTAS-20) and Defense Styles Questionnaire (DSQ-40). The normal group also completed the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) and were selected based on Structured Clinical Interview (SCID-I). The results demonstrated that there are significant differences between clinical and normal groups in terms of alexithymia and defense mechanisms (p