Although alexithymia was originally described in patients with classical psychosomatic illnesses, attempts to specifically correlate these illnesses with alexithymia have not been successful. Despite the prominent role of somatization in the clinical description of alexithymia, a specific correlation between alexithymia and somatization has not been established. Data are presented which suggest that alexithymia is significantly more prevalent in somatizers than in healthy subjects, or subjects with classical psychosomatic illness in the absence of somatization. Other findings suggest that alexithymia may be a widespread phenomenon not necessarily associated with somatization or other illness. In the absence of debilitating somatization alexithymia may be useful in facilitating task-oriented behavior over prolonged periods of time without distraction.