Objective: Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a neurological sleep disorder that may be accompanied by psychiatric comorbidities. In this study, in addition to alexithymia levels, anxiety and depression levels were also examined in patients with RLS.

Materials and Methods: Our study included 30 healthy controls and 32 patients with restless legs syndrome who were not receiving treatment. Sociodemographic and Clinical Data Form, Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20), Beck Depression Scale (BDS) and Beck Anxiety Scale (BAS) were applied to all participants.

Results: BAS and BDS scores of the patient group were significantly higher than those of the control group (p<0.05 and p<0.05, respectively). TAS-20 scores of the patient group were significantly higher than those of the control group. When the correlation between the variables was analyzed, it was found that there was a significant negative correlation only between duration of disease and BDS (r=-0.397, p=0.025).

Conclusion: In conclusion, it was found that the patient group was more alexithymic than the control group and had difficulty identifying their emotions. RLS patients also have higher depression and anxiety scores. Therefore, we can say that it would be useful to monitor the anxiety and depression levels of these patients during treatment.