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Hypochondria: causes, symptoms and possible treatments

Hypochondria: causes, symptoms and possible treatments

February 28, 2024

A headache is seen as an obvious sign of the presence of a brain tumor. A conjunctivitis is probably indicating the incubation of a hemorrhagic fever. The appearance of a bruise clearly indicates that you suffer internal injuries due to an illness. A discomfort in the arm implies that we are suffering with a heart attack.

Although in some cases the association between the symptoms and diseases I have named is correct, a large part of the population is not alarmed when a specific symptom occurs: almost everyone has ever had a headache, they have had eyes injected with blood, bruises or discomfort and in general it is not due to the ailment of the previous diseases.


However, there are people who experience a high level of anxiety when they notice alterations that are generally considered mild and are convinced that they are suffering from a serious illness. It's about people suffering from hypochondria .

  • Related article: "Digital hypochondriacs: the danger of using the Internet to self-diagnose"

What is hypochondria?

It is understood by hypochondria, currently called anxiety disorder by disease in the DSM-5 , that disorder characterized by the presence of a high level of fear, worry and anxiety before the belief or the conviction of being suffering from a serious medical illness, or because of the possibility of being contracted.


This belief comes from the perception of small alterations or sensations that they are interpreted as unambiguous signs of serious disorders . Sometimes it appears after the person or someone close to them has suffered a long, painful illness or has ended with the death of the patient.

What happens in the mind of the hypochondriac

In cases where there is a conviction of illness, in general people with this disorder seek medical help in order to locate and diagnose the alleged problem, and often in the presence of evidence showing their good health the explanations Do not satisfy them or do it only temporarily and demand the performance of new tests or look for other professionals who confirm their fears. However, there are some people with this disorder that they choose to avoid going to the doctor due to the fear of being diagnosed , despite suffering a very high anxiety and being convinced of being sick.


The high level of anxiety with regard to their health that these people suffer from causes them to be continuously focused on the existence of possible symptoms, as well as to perform or stop performing behaviors in order to check their health status.

The diagnosis of hypochondria assumes that these symptoms occur over at least six months , although the disease that is believed to have can vary. This concern should not be confused and should not be due to the existence of another mental disorder such as OCD or somatic disorders (although in some cases high anxiety can lead to a psychosomatic disorder). It is a disorder that can be very disabling and cause a high level of dysfunction in different vital domains (personal, work or academic).

Causes of the disorder

Anxiety disorder due to illness or hypochondria is known since antiquity, being information of this even in classical Greece. Throughout history they have tried to establish different explanations regarding its etiology. On the psychological level we can find that several schools and currents of thought have been formulating their own explanations.

From the psychodynamic model hypochondria has often been linked as an expression of internal conflicts originating in the distrust of one's own body born in childhood, with a transformation of hostility towards others that is redirected towards oneself or the need for dependence or as an attempt of the psyche to respond and defend oneself from guilt or low self-esteem. However, this explanation is not scientifically validated.

From a psychosocial approach it looks like a learned behavior pattern that is acquired upon observation that it can cause benefits. It is proposed that the hypochondriac may be an insecure person who uses the idea of ​​being sick as an unconscious mechanism to draw attention to their environment. It is important to emphasize the fact that it is unconscious and involuntary.

However, one of the explanatory models that has received the most attention is the one proposed by Warwick and Salkovskis , who considered that, in the etiology of hypochondria, harmful previous experiences with respect to health and illness (such as the death of a loved one due to one) can be found first, leading to the belief that the symptom implies always something very negative,

These beliefs are activated after a triggering event and cause automatic negative thoughts to appear that in turn generate anxiety. This anxiety will be enhanced by performing specific behaviors and increasing activation at various levels.

  • Related article: "The 16 most common mental disorders"

Treatment of hypochondria

The treatment of hypochondria can have some complication because, as a general rule, the subject tends to maintain the belief that something physical happens to him. In order to treat hypochondria, first it is necessary to rule out that there is no real pathology and once discarded it is necessary to establish a good rapport between therapist and patient. Initially it is usually treated in the first place the symptoms of anxious type and then move to those aspects deeper than origin and / or maintain the concern.

Psychotherapeutic intervention

In the treatment, psychotherapy is used with techniques usually cognitive-behavioral . The treatment in question is based firstly on helping the subject to detect beliefs about their health status and how they affect their life, to later propose the alternative that may be dealing with a problem related to anxiety and teach an explanatory model of the phenomenon (usually that of Warwick and Salkovskis).

After that, work begins on the different activities that the subject carries out as a check of their condition, and it is proposed to carry out different experiments that contradict the beliefs of the individual. A commitment is established with the patient so that he / she commits not to perform certain checking activities, to later indicate that he / she performs a small registry in which when anxiety arises write down data for and against your suspicions so you can question them .

Subsequently he will be helping to make an exhibition in imagination or even a flood regarding the idea of ​​getting sick or suffering from the disease in question. Autofocus should also be worked on, showing the importance that it has in the exacerbation of their discomfort and proposing activities that allow the attention focus to be varied.

Cognitive restructuring is also very useful to combat dysfunctional beliefs. It is important to incorporate elements that take into account the prevention of relapse in any program applied against hypochondria. It is also useful to train the environment so that they do not potentiate the symptomatology.

Pharmacotherapy

There is no specific pharmacological treatment for this type of problem, although anxiolytics and antidepressants are sometimes used to alleviate the discomfort of the subject.

Bibliographic references:

  • American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Fifth edition. DSM-V. Masson, Barcelona.
  • Avia, M.D. (1993). Hypochondria. Ediciones Martínez Roca S.A., Barcelona.
  • Santos, J.L. ; García, L.I. ; Calderón, M.A. ; Sanz, L.J .; de los Ríos, P .; Left, S .; Román, P .; Hernangómez, L .; Navas, E .; Thief, A and Álvarez-Cienfuegos, L. (2012). Clinical psychology. CEDE Preparation Manual PIR, 02. CEDE. Madrid.

Anxiety Disorders : Symptoms of Anxiety Disorders (February 2024).


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