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Hypochondriasis is a disorder in which a person is under the belief that he is suffering from some serious illness.
They misinterpret some bodily symptoms such as headache for brain tumour, individuals suffering from this disorder are known as hypochondriacs.
These people even after getting their medical tests done by a physician believe they have some serious illness.
The symptoms should remain for a minimum period of 6 months to be diagnosed under hypochondriasis.
FACTS
71% of people suffering from Hypochondriasis Disorder, also are suffering from anxiety disorder.
SYMPTOMS
- Anxiety
- Nervousness
- Depression
- Concern about their illness affects social, family and work
- Frequently checking body for problems
- Visiting doctors frequently
- Continuously talking and discussing about their symptoms with family and friends
- Thinking they have a disease after reading about it
CASE STUDIES
Mrs S S, 42 a school teacher has visited more than 15 doctors in 5 different hospitals over the past 8 months and more than 2 dozen different types of medical tests have been conducted on her. All reports indicate she is normal, except for her blood pressure, which is a bit high. But that too seems self inflated as she worries extensively, that she is suffering from a serious sickness and all doctors and medical tests are unable to identify it. She has frequent headaches, which has started to make her believe that she has developed a serious brain tumour. She remains anxious most of the times worrying about her health; her previous medical history reveals that she has taken treatment for 2 years for clinical depression. She sometimes feels afraid to sleep at night, fearing she might not wake up ever again. She recently took a medical leave from school as she feels she is unfit to work.
Her behaviour has caused a rift in her personal life; her husband often loses his temper while speaking to her and S’s 15 years old son finds it tough to understand her irrational behaviour.
