The Emotional Inheritance You Never Asked For

Key points

Alexithymia or "no words for feelings" isn't a diagnosis but a trait affecting 10 percent of the population.

Children of alexithymic parents often inherit emotional illiteracy through failed emotion socialization.

Daughters may struggle with intimacy; sons often convert unprocessed emotions into physical symptoms.

Emotional literacy can be learned in adulthood—what your mother couldn't teach, you can still acquire.

You've heard it your whole life: "You're overreacting." "Why are you so emotional?" Maybe you've internalized this chorus so deeply that you now tell yourself these things, all while feeling like you're drowning in sensations you can't quite explain.

There might be an uncomfortable backstory behind this. What if the real issue isn't that you feel too much, but t