Hypochondria and Panic/Anxiety Disorder

Hypochondriasis is defined by Webster's as "morbid concern about one's health especially when accompanied by delusions of physical disease". One labeled a hypochondriac can be described by peers as "always ailing" or sometimes as just plain annoying. The hypochondriac can also be a thorn in the side of his or her physician. But what causes this puzzling and complex disorder? And why are those afflicted unable to be pacified by a clean bill of health from their doctors?

For many suffering with anxiety and panic disorder, acute attacks are often triggered by one or more physical symptoms that are interpreted as life-threatening. As research has discovered that the delivery of various stimulants to cells in the body via the bloodstream prompts one to react as if in physical danger, thus prompting a panic attack, it's a similar misfire that deprives one the ability to accurately interpret the body's own signals.

Anxiety literally feels bad. There are physiological changes that occur affecting the functions of many different parts of the body. These changes are often mistaken for frightening health conditions and ailments. So the fear feeds the misinterpretation, and the misinterpretation can spark fear. This can be an anguished cycle to repeat, with the added hardship of a lack of sympathy from others.

With the abundance of medical information available to the general public via the internet through websites like WebMD.com, hypochondria can be created and fed rather easily. This is a time when Americans are armed with knowledge of what is good and bad for their health like never before, and while this is meant to equip people with the tools to take charge of their health and live better, it often becomes an avenue for distraction and obsession. This is because it's not a far jump from learning which symptoms indicate a dangerous condition to actually feeling them. The mind is able to trick the body, especially the mind of someone constantly expecting harm.

A person living with these intertwined disorders can experience the terror of being one step away from death on a daily basis. Even the reassurance from a physician, as well as their own common sense, are no match for this powerful deception and the very real presence of physical symptoms. Much of the time the individual is not simply imagining, for instance, that they are short of breath. The airway feels constricted, though due to their own tension and erratic breathing rather than impending death.

It's been well-established that a panic attack can mimic the symptoms of a heart attack, not only for the person experiencing one, but also for medical professionals treating them. In an acute attack like this, a proper diagnosis can be made that it is in fact not a heart attack and the patient sent on their way. But for the anxiety sufferer, the onset of a heart attack remains a real threat and those same symptoms will chronically plague them. So they might repeatedly seek medical attention, even if simply to "make sure" that there is nothing wrong with their heart. Before long, they are labeled a hypochondriac, and begin to feel that the doctor no longer takes them seriously. Most often, they are correct.

Other examples of the torment these people live with include the feeling of and the belief that: the throat is closing, a headache is actually the onset of a stroke or the result of an inoperable brain tumor, that breathing will simply cease, an aneurysm will strike at any moment, and there are even cases of people being so certain that swallowing food will result in choking that they refuse to do so, causing significant weight loss. To the non-sufferer, it seems simple to just know these ideas are silly and stop believing them. But that's where a malfunction in the brain sets apart these people from the rest of the population.

Fortunately, there are treatments for these conditions which offer hope to the person living in virtual bondage. Often a formula of various methods will be successful, and will not be the same for each case. There are a number of medications that can bring relief of symptoms, but experts stress that one method alone will not achieve success, and that the use of medication should be combined with therapy. Other treatment options include exercise, homeopathy and a host of media "programs" which can be purchased, though usually at a high cost.

These conditions are now widely accepted by the medical community as legitimate and requiring treatment. A good healthcare professional can recognize the behaviors associated with them and treat patients accordingly, rather than dismissing them once they've been cleared medically.