Am I a Hypochondriac?

In popular understanding, hypochondriacs are those people who constantly worry about their health, or who overstate their symptoms, so that a cold is perceived as 'flu' and minor aches, pains and twinges are interpreted as signs of something more sinister. In fact, hypochondriasis is a very specific medical illness.

Few people, even if they spend a lot of time thinking about their health, actually qualify in terms of the strict medical definition. According to an authoritative overview of the condition. Studies have shown that 'some degree of preoccupation with disease is apparently common, because 10-20% of people who are healthy and 45% of people without a major psychiatric disorder have intermittent unfounded worries about illness.'

Symptoms, diagnosis and causes:

A diagnosis of hypochondriasis is based on the presence of a preoccupation with the idea that the person is suffering from a serious illness. The concern lasts for at least six months and interferes with the person's normal living. Reassurances from health professionals do not allay the patient's fears. The patient fixates on this possibility of major illness rather than on the specific symptoms or on pain. Some sufferers react with repeated visits to the doctor, but some may determinedly avoid medical treatment.

Hypochondriasis is distinguished from related disorders ('somatoform disorders'), in which physical symptoms seem to have no physical basis. One that has received media attention is Munchausen's syndrome, where sufferers consult doctors out of a need for attention. Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is characterised by the belief that there is something seriously wrong with a part of the body, but sufferers focus on aspects of physical appearance.

Various explanations have been offered for hypochondriasis. Some see it as a cognitive problem, in which people misread physical symptoms and/or have a lower threshold for coping with them. Psychological accounts implicate problems in psychic development, a need to escape responsibility or the translation of psychological complaints into physical ones. Research has also explored neurochemical dysfunction.

Reasons to relax!

Most of us worry about illness, especially with the availability today of medical information and increased awareness of the danger signs. Doctors regularly see people with indigestion who fear they are having a coronary, after seeing a horror story on TV about ignoring the signs. With medical information abundant on the internet, the increase in fears that symptom X may well be a sign of disease Y is almost inevitable. Cyberchondria, as it's known, is a similar phenomenon to the well-known affliction experienced by medical students as they learn about diseases: the fear that 'I could have that!'. Many diseases are characterised by so-called non-specific' symptoms that are not uncommon, but are ultimately meaningless (pins and needles does not necessarily imply nerve degeneration, for example).

No physical cause detected...

Just because your doctor can't find anything wrong doesn't mean there isn't! Medically unexplained physical symptoms (MUPS) are not uncommon. Medicine is far from an exact science and some diseases are hard to diagnose, especially early on. Autoimmune diseases can be particularly difficult to identify. In addition, the medical profession has had to recognize that some conditions are real physical illnesses, even though they can't be mapped and measured in the body. Fibromyalgia is one such disease, now widely acknowledged by many, if not all, doctors. Hard-pressed doctors also do sometimes make mistakes...

Chances are that if the doctor says you're okay, you probably are. Be alert to your body and your reactions to it. Even if you are ill, obsessing about it will only interfere with your life.

References:

Glenn L. Xiong. Hypochondriasis. www.emedicine.com/MED/topic3122.htm
Hypochondriasis. Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders. http://www.minddisorders.com/Flu-Inv/Hypochondriasis.html