“Eulexithymia” and Diabetes Care Professionals

Abstract

A lexithymia is a personality trait that refers to the inability to express emotions in words. Medical professionals have been criticized for being “alexithymic” by many observers. From a clinician’s perspective, an alexithymic diabetes care professional is one who is unable to empathize with the patient, or to understand the patient’s emotional status and needs. In overzealous attempts at being “patientcentric,” one often tends to undermine the importance of the fact that diabetes care is a two-way process. The diabetes care professional is as important a component of diabetology as the person with diabetes. Balanced models and constructs are available which highlight the equal importance of the physician and other stakeholders of the healthcare system as well. The term we propose is “eulexithymia,” which we define as a balanced ability to express one’s emotions and understand others’ feelings. When used to describe a diabetes care professional, a “eulexithymic” professional is one who understands and responds to a patient’s feelings in a balanced manner, without letting oneself be unduly and inappropriately affected by them.