Alexithymia seems to share some common features with psychological con
striction, a phenomenon described in suicidal individuals. Fifty suici
de attempters were interviewed within 24 h after arrival at a hospital
, and measures of lethality of the attempt, suicidal intent, depressio
n and alexithymia were carried out with structured instruments. Almost
all the attempters were depressive, and about half of them were also
alexithymic. However, alexithymia was not more prevalent in this popul
ation than in non-suicidal depressive patients. Depression and alexith
ymia correlated significantly with each other, but there was no correl
ation between alexithymia and lethality of the suicide attempt or suic
idal intent. The authors conclude that alexithymia in suicide attempte
rs seems to be associated with depression, but not with suicidality pe
r se. Therefore, measurement of alexithymia may not yield extra inform
ation in suicide risk assessment.