_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ *Corresponding author: E-mail: mmjbhhal@gmail.com; International Neuropsychiatric Disease Journal 6(1): 1-11, 2016; Article no.INDJ.21803 ISSN: 2321-7235, NLM ID: 101632319 SCIENCEDOMAIN international www.sciencedomain.org Alexithymia, the Emotional Blindness among Stroke Survivors: A Preliminary Study Mohammed M. J. Alqahtani 1* 1 King Khalid University, P.O.Box 376624, Riyadh 11335, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Author’s contribution The sole author designed, analyzed and interpreted and prepared the manuscript. Article Information DOI: 10.9734/INDJ/2016/21803 Editor(s): (1) Sergio Bagnato, Department of Rehabilitation, Fondazione Istituto San Raffaele, Italy. Reviewers: (1) Takao Yasuhara, Okayama University, Japan. (2) Rajendra Nath, King George’s Medical University, Lucknow, India. (3) Olubunmi Ogunrin, University of Benin, Nigeria. Complete Peer review History: http://sciencedomain.org/review-history/12007 Received 4 th September 2015 Accepted 5 th October 2015 Published 28 th October 2015 ABSTRACT Stroke patients suffer from emotional disturbances. Alexithymia is a common impairment after stroke. To date, no Arabic study has examined the potential comorbidity of alexithymia and stroke in a rehabilitation outpatient setting. Methods: Quantitative and qualitative methodologies were used to collect information from stroke survivors. Subjects were recruited from the outpatient rehabilitation clinic at King Fahad Medical City - Rehab Hospital (KFMC-RH), during their follow up. Results: Stroke survivors (n= 33) were compared with healthy control subjects (n= 35) on the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20); Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS); and the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) of Quality of Life (QoL). Alexithymia was significantly associated with stroke survivors. Alexithymia was reported to be a predictor of poorer QoL, even when depression and anxiety were controlled. Qualitative studies (n=15) followed, in order to obtain in- depth information about post-stroke alexithymia. Emotional change was one of the most frequently voiced complaints of stroke survivors and their caregivers. Conclusions: The conclusion encourages the assessment of alexithymia in rehabilitation settings for stroke survivors. Increased awareness of the potential mediating role of alexithymia in post- stroke psychological symptoms will facilitate effective diagnoses and better rehabilitation intervention for better outcomes. Original Research Article