MOST STUDENTS of French and drama will recall Moliere's hit comedy, La Malade Imaginaire. This play arguably portrayed the world's most famous hypochondriac, who constantly complained of illnesses for which his poor doctor could find no physical symptoms. In real life, there are many hypochondriacs around and hypochondriasis is listed among the psychological conditions (under somatoform disorders) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, DSM-IV.
Many patients make bodily complaints but in spite of the best efforts of their physicians no physical pathology can be identified; in a large group of these cases, the manual suggests illnesses are motivated by psychological rather than physical impairment - these conditions, which include hypochondriasis, are called somotoform disorder.
The hypochondriac have a persistent belief, which usually lasts for more than six months that he has a medical condition. These patients, even though they might be reassured by health professionals that they are not ill, will have an obsessive concern about their health and various organs in their bodies. They also have a fear of disease and tend to be very meticulous in tracking any potential symptom and they do this by paying an exaggerated attention to any small change in the functioning of their bodies.
Patients diagnosed as hypochondriacs genuinely feel distressed about their health and psychologists say it will not help if the health care provider denies or challenges the symptoms, instead they should be reassured that no organic disease exists and they should also be encouraged to keep one primary health provider for follow-up care and monitoring of the symptoms. Mental health intervention is often advised and the person is encouraged to review the way they deal with stress instead of developing new symptoms.
