Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
closer to the norm
English answer:
is more frequently seen
English term
closer to the norm
I'm not completely sure about the meaning of "closer to the norm" in the passage below about alexithymia, the inability to name emotions. Does it mean "very common"? But if this were the meaning, I don't understand why the author says "however", since the previous sentence also says this is a trait in many people... Maybe "closer to the norm" is stronger than "common" and means "nearly all my patients"?
Thank you so much for your attention!
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Not having words for feelings, the concept of alexithymia (Taylor, 2000), represents a body of research exploring what has been found to be a trait in many people. In my clinical practice, however, a relative alexithymia is *** closer to the norm *** in some people: They often start treatment unable to express both thoughts and feelings. But after an emotion-focused approach to their psychotherapy, their use of emotion words and their experience of being alive in their body has often increased dramatically. In my practice, alexithymia is related to state rather than trait.
Apr 1, 2024 10:44: Yvonne Gallagher Created KOG entry
Non-PRO (2): Lara Barnett, Yvonne Gallagher
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Responses
Ireland
right word, right place. everytime
Native in: English (Variants: US, Canadian, Irish, UK) 
Works in: French to English, Spanish to English, English, and 1 more.
is more frequently seen
"...the concept of alexithymia[...] has been found to be a trait in many people.
HOWEVER a relative alexithymia is more frequently seen/observed (in my clinical practice
BECAUSE (patients) often start treatment unable to express both thoughts and feelings. [...] After treatment and therapy, "their use of emotion words and their experience of being alive in their body has often increased dramatically.
In my practice, alexithymia is related to state rather than trait.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/nursing-and-health-prof...
"Absolute stability is reached if people with alexithymia score the same on an alexithymia scale over time. Relative stability refers to temporal stability or people's relative position on levels of alexithymia, even though their absolute score may change."
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Note added at 6 days (2024-04-01 00:15:41 GMT) Post-grading
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Glad to have helped. Hope you had a good Easter
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Note added at 6 days (2024-04-01 17:09:40 GMT) Post-grading
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I'm also working! I visited my sister in hospital yesterday as she fell, broke her femur and cracked 2 ribs last Thursday with an opersation on Friday to insert a plate:-(
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Note added at 7 days (2024-04-01 23:13:36 GMT) Post-grading
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Thank you Haribert!
| Thank you so much, Yvonne, for your clear explanation! |
| Hi, dear Yvonne, I had to work a little bit, but the weather was bad so it was ok... Hope you had good Easter, too! |
| Oh, I'm really sorry for your sister... I wish her to get well soon! A big hug to you! |
| agree |
AllegroTrans
: This works well
1 hr
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Many thanks:-)
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| agree |
Michael Beijer
5 days
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Many thanks:-) That's generous of you
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United Kingdom
Experienced technical/patent translator
Native in: English (Variants: British, US)
Works in: Dutch to English, Flemish to English, English to Dutch, and 2 more.
[see below]
closer to the norm =
• More commonplace
• More typical
• Rather standard
• Frequently observed
• Not uncommon
• Relatively usual
• More often the rule than the exception
• Somewhat expected
• Tending towards the standard
• A common occurrence
• closer to what is generally seen in people
• etc.
| Thank you so much, Michael, for your help! Really useful synonyms! |
| agree |
philgoddard
1 hr
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Thanks!
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| agree |
AllegroTrans
: synonyms are always useful
14 hrs
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thanks!
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| agree |
Lara Barnett
14 hrs
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thanks!
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| agree |
Christopher Schröder
17 hrs
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thanks!
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| agree |
Anastasia Kalantzi
18 hrs
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thanks!
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Portugal
Experienced & Qualified Translator EN>PT
Native in: Portuguese (Variant: European/Portugal)
Works in: English to Portuguese, Portuguese to English, Portuguese, and 1 more.
É mais comum
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Note added at 45 minutos (2024-03-25 20:35:40 GMT)
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Please ignore the title. I've mistakenly translated that term to Portuguese.
| Thank you very much! May I ask what "è mais comum" means? |
| maybe you can post your answer again, with the title in English...because I think your remark is very useful! |
a relative alexithymia is close to be the most usual ... however we can improve on that
**At the beginning**:
a relative (mild?) alexithymia is quite usual, almost "the norm"
which is implied to be an undesirable trait, thus the "however"
as **after some therapy**, this can be changed (/improved):
their use of emotion words and their experience of being alive in their body has often increased dramatically.
Simpler version:
It starts not so good, however we can fix it.
| Thank you, Daryo, for your attempt... I also had difficulty in understanding "closer to the norm" in this context initially... |
| neutral |
AllegroTrans
: ...is close to BEING the MORE usual // Should've gone to Specsavers?
3 hrs
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My mistake - should've reread more carefully.
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| disagree |
Christopher Schröder
: Grammar aside, I disagree with your explanation. I see no sense of undesirable.
6 hrs
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I'm talking of how it's seen by psychotherapists, like the one writing this ST, never mind if you or I or anyone else agrees with that or not!
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| neutral |
Yvonne Gallagher
: not what the "however" means
8 hrs
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You made me recheck how "however" is used, and I can't see how my explanation wouldn't make sense.// Like other uses of "however," this implies **a contrast to the previous content**, ... etc https://www.wikihow.com/Use-However
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Spain
Sworn (FRES) & Legal (EN>ES). EN>FR
Native in: Spanish (Variant: Standard-Spain)
Works in: French to Spanish, Spanish to French, English to Spanish, and 5 more.
alexithymia is relative and less far form the standards for some people
In some people, alexithymia is relative and thus, closer to what society admits in terms of lack of emotions.
Hope it helps.
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Note added at 17 hrs (2024-03-26 13:41:36 GMT)
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*From (sry)
| Thank you very much, Susana, for your contribution! |
Discussion
Happy holidays to all of you!