Overly suspicious and sensitive people suffer from hypochondriacal disorder. They constantly feel like they are sick with something, although their health is not in danger. This article will help you find out what hypochondria is and how to get rid of it.
Hypochondria - what is it?
Hypochondria is a fairly common mental disorder in which a person suffers from a fictitious illness. It seems to him that some organ is not functioning properly and his health is critical. Even a therapist fails to convince such a “patient”. The treatment of hypochondriacs, that is, people who invent non-existent diseases, should be treated by a psychotherapist or psychiatrist.
Both men and women suffer from hypochondria. Often hypochondriacal disorder becomes chronic. Hypochondriacs are always looking for signs of various diseases, based on information from newspapers and magazines or from the Internet.
So who is a hypochondriac? First of all, he is a very suspicious and sensitive person. He feels like he has a bad heart. Several times a day he measures his pulse. He perceives headaches as nothing other than brain cancer. Any discharge from the genitals seems to him to be signs of a venereal disease. Hypochondriacs love to talk about the environment, often talk about their well-being, and are very concerned about the quality of their diet.
Interesting Facts
Hypochondriacal neurosis is often depicted in works of art. Most often in literature and cinema. For example, in the comedy “The Healthy Sick,” Moliere believably portrays a hypochondriac. In the world of cinema, hypochondria affects several works, for example:
- Woody Allen's film Hannah and Her Sisters;
- the film "Bandits", directed by Barry Levinson;
- the film "Dogville" from Danish director Lars von Trier.
Famous people also suffered from hypochondria. There are many philosophers among them, such as Rene Descartes, Voltaire, Immanuel Kant, Arthur Schopenhauer and even Karl Marx.
IMPORTANT! Informational article! Before use, you should consult a specialist.
Symptoms of hypochondria
People suffering from hypochondria first “find” some terrible disease in themselves, then they try to convince the therapist of the existence of the found disease. They describe the signs of a disease of one organ, supplementing their narrative with more and more new “facts”. Sometimes hypochondriacs change the severity of their own illness. If, after several attempts to prove to a specialist the existence of, for example, stomach cancer, they fail, then the disease acquires a new name - stomach ulcer.
What organs or systems are affected by hypochondria, the symptoms and treatment of which hypochondriacs try to impose on health care workers? Typically, people suffering from this disorder complain of impaired functioning of the cardiovascular, genitourinary systems, digestive organs, and brain. A hypochondriac, that is, a person who invents illnesses for himself, may imagine that he has cancer, AIDS, or a severe form of hepatitis.
A person speaks confidently about his illness. If a medical worker tries to dissuade such a “patient,” he may encounter resistance or a negative, aggressive reaction. Despite the “convincing” facts, the signs of a hypochondriac’s illnesses often do not fit into the clinical picture of the illness he describes. But all the symptoms of hypochondria are present.
Hypochondriacal disorder - signs:
- feeling of numbness, crawling all over the body;
- frequently occurring pain not associated with any pathology;
- general malaise.
Such people are in a constant state of anxiety and searching for some kind of disease. Obsessive fear is the hallmark of this mental disorder. Having “found” any disease in themselves, hypochondriacs begin to look for all kinds of information about its treatment. In addition to the imaginary illness, hypochondriacs sometimes begin to talk all sorts of nonsense, their thoughts resemble delirium, which gives them the right to diagnose them with schizophrenia.
Hypochondria affects the nature of a person’s relationships with the people around him. He becomes selfish and too touchy. Completely concentrates on his experiences and “pains.” If loved ones do not react to his illness in any way, the hypochondriac considers them callous and indifferent people. The range of interests narrows - those suffering from a mental disorder worry only about their own health and nothing else.
Prehypochondriacal state
The tendency to identify various diseases in oneself can arise against the background of a depressive state or after psychological trauma. If a person’s relative has died, for example, from cancer, then he may soon begin to look for signs of cancer in his body. He will constantly listen to pain and perceive any changes in the functioning of organs as signs of an incipient illness.
The development of a pre-hypochondriacal state can be affected by taking medications and stress. With age, the tendency to hypochondria only increases. Melancholic people love to invent various illnesses for themselves. Sometimes the disease occurs even in explosive and hot-tempered choleric people.
Senesthopathy in hypochondria
Many patients with hypochondria have senestopathies. Attention is focused on painful sensations occurring inside the body. A person associates such sensations with signs of a progressive disease. Initially, he complains of indigestion, constipation, and nausea. Then the pain is localized in one place - in the heart, head, stomach.
Guided by their own guesses, such people go from one doctor to another, trying to identify a serious illness. If specialists do not find anything, they continue to assure everyone that they are right and treat themselves.
How does hypochondria manifest in depression?
Hypochondriacs may suffer from depressive disorder. They become suspicious, apathetic, and overly exaggerate the severity of their illness. For example, an ordinary headache is perceived as brain cancer. Having convinced himself of an incurable disease, the hypochondriac is in a depressed mood, is not interested in anything, and is confident that death is approaching soon. He loses his appetite, insomnia and digestive problems appear.
Hypochondria in adults and children, symptoms and treatment. How to get rid of hypochondria?
Hypochondriasis is a person's belief that physical symptoms in their body are signs of a serious illness, even if there is no medical evidence of the illness.
A person with hypochondria continues to think that he is seriously ill, despite appropriate medical tests, examinations and assurances from doctors that his health is fine.
A person with this suspiciousness will think of normal body functions, such as heartbeat, sweating, or bowel movements, as symptoms of a serious disease or condition.
Even minor abnormalities such as a runny nose, swollen lymph nodes or slight pain are considered symptoms of something truly terrible. A hypochondriac usually uses “foggy” phrases - he can say that the veins are tired or there is pain somewhere in the liver.
It has been found that more than 60% of hypochondriacs also suffer from severe depression, panic disorder or generalized anxiety disorder.
A person with hypochondria may suffer for months or even years. There may be equally long periods when he does not worry about being sick with something. Experts say about 30% of patients eventually improve significantly, and recovery occurs most often among people with higher socioeconomic status.
Causes of hypochondria
Why a person develops hypochondria is often unclear. Experts believe many factors play a role. Hypochondria usually initially affects people in early adulthood.
A person may begin to suffer from hypochondria after recovering from a serious illness, after breaking up with a loved one, or after the death of a close friend.
Many who have experienced increased stress may also be affected.
Psychologists agree that most people who develop hypochondriasis tend to be neurotic, self-critical, or narcissistic. Some perfectionists also suffer from hypochondria, believing that being healthy means never feeling pain or discomfort.
Basically, medical examination can lead to hypochondria. A patient who has a weak heart may automatically assume the worst when he experiences sensations associated with heart disease. Some medical experts say that people with high anxiety have a low threshold for pain. They notice any internal sensations earlier than other people.
It should be noted that this disorder occurs equally in men and women. Increased suspiciousness in a person (adult or child) forces him to focus too much on his physical health. He pays hypertrophied attention and worries about his physical sensations.
All this turns into a vicious circle and a continuous cycle - an emerging (even harmless) symptom causes anxiety, and anxiety, in turn, can increase symptoms. This cycle is difficult to stop. It is important to understand that people with such suspiciousness do not deliberately create these symptoms (simulation). They are unable to control the symptoms.
People who have a history of physical or sexual abuse, serious illness or trauma are more likely to develop this disorder. However, this does not mean that every person with hypochondriasis has a similar story in their life.
Factors contributing to hypochondria
- Materials about diseases on the Internet
- TV programs about diseases, TV shows and advertisements about serious diseases
- Publication of statistics on chronic diseases
- Information that mental illness often causes obsessions about illness (hypochondria)
- Stereotypes of age-related diseases
Symptoms of hypochondria
- Hypochondriacs are unable to control their fears and worries. They often consider minor symptoms or sensations to be a sign of a serious illness.
- They regularly seek evidence from doctors, family and friends. They may feel better for a period of time, but then begin to worry about the same or new symptoms again.
- The symptoms a person reports are often vague.
- People with hypochondria often explore their own bodies.
- It is not uncommon for a suspicious person to focus on one specific organ, for example, the heart or lungs, or simply on one of the diseases, such as cancer.
- Those who suffer from this disorder may even admit that their fear of serious illness is unreasonable and unfounded, but they find it difficult to get rid of it.
Treatment: how to get rid of hypochondria
Hypochondria is difficult to treat. There is actually no cure for the imaginary disease. Hypochondria exists only in a person's head. If a person constantly considers himself sick, medicine cannot fix it. But if a hypochondriac is aware of his condition, he can do something to overcome it.
- First, a healthcare professional must tell you that you do not have a disease. You should only have one initial appointment with your doctor to avoid too many tests and procedures.
- The main thing that can be very useful against hypochondria is keeping a diary where you write down your feelings and thoughts. This is simply a way of tracking that will help you determine what is causing your hypochondriasis attacks. When you know what makes you anxious, you can find better ways to manage it.
An effective treatment for hypochondria should essentially do one thing: it should give you freedom from fear. After all, thinking that life is endless illnesses, you cannot really enjoy life to the fullest. There is no magic pill you can take. But if you make the decision to overcome hypochondria, you will be helping yourself.
- Finding a therapist who has experience treating this disorder can be helpful.
- Recent studies have shown that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors such as fluoxetine and paroxetine) are effective in treating hypochondriasis.
- Exercise is not only good for your health, but it also makes you feel better mentally.
Childhood hypochondria and its features
Childhood cases of hypochondria are not uncommon. They most often occur in young children (five to seven years old, as a rule), but can occur at any age. In fact, many children suffer from a debilitating condition often referred to as a psychosomatic disorder.
For a parent, the key to solving the problem of hypochondria in a child will be diagnosing his condition. Hypochondria can be acute, associated with a recent event in the child's life, or chronic, when the child complains of pain on a daily basis.
In children who exhibit traits of chronic hypochondriasis, the cause is often the personality traits of a particular parent who suffers from hypochondriacal tendencies.
Children often take cues from adults, and you may accidentally scare them by talking about illnesses.
By observing how parents cope/fail with struggles, illnesses and difficulties in daily life, a child may develop a state of hypochondria in which he uses illness as a method to solve problems, issues and difficulties.
Another aspect in the development of hypochondria in children is the tendency of first-born children to suffer from greater feelings of fatigue and frustration than their younger siblings.
And yet, there are some children who simply develop a tendency towards hypochondria as a result of over-medication in their childhood.
For these children, frequent visits to the doctor's office are often associated with certain reactions and mechanisms in their mind.
The main goal will be to reverse the effects of hypochondria before the child reaches adolescence and adolescence.
1. Try not to show irritation.
If your child senses that you are annoyed or that you do not want to listen to him, you risk that he will not want to come to you next time and, moreover, will not tell you in the future what is really important for you to know.
Try to spend special time with him and give him your full attention when he complains about injuries or illnesses. Listen to his symptoms. The child needs to know that you are with him in order to reassure him whether he will actually feel bad or not.
2. Reassure your child of his health and stability. Be firm but gentle. Hypochondriacal tendencies often stem from underlying security issues. Unable to express them, the child may become attached to the banal physical world. Comfort and love may be the answer in this case.
3. Help your child take action by exploring his concerns and complaints. Ask if he would like to search for answers with you. If your child feels you are more involved in his own well-being, he is more likely to trust you and be satisfied with your answers.
Source: https://HeadLife.ru/ipohondriya/
Causes of hypochondriacal disorder
What are the causes of hypochondria, and how does the mental disorder develop? The fact is that the disease is influenced by a number of factors: frequent stress, bad habits, unfavorable environment, poor nutrition, hereditary predisposition, hormonal imbalances. A person’s psyche becomes depleted, he becomes suspicious and vulnerable, and invents various non-existent diseases for himself.
Another cause of hypochondriacal disorder comes from childhood. If a child was often sick, then even in adult life he retained the position of a sick person. He will constantly listen to his own body, perceiving neutral signals as pathological. A person is convinced of the weakness of his own body and is constantly looking for some kind of disease.
Psychologists consider hypochondria to be a person’s inability to get sick and an acute fear of death. If you tell a patient that he has a serious and incurable disease, then he will perceive the real pathology as an unimportant fact.
Types and forms of hypochondria
There are 2 forms of hypochondria:
- Sensoipochondria. The syndrome is characterized by acute pain. A person self-treats using alternative medicine. The hypochondriac is sure that his condition is getting worse, even after a medical examination.
- Ideoipochondria. A person is afraid of “catching” an infection. Constantly takes tests and conducts examinations. The individual is haunted by the thought that he has a serious illness occurring in a latent phase.
Types of hypochondria:
- Obsessive.
It occurs due to frequent stressful situations and is the result of excessive emotionality. The disorder is detected in suspicious people with a rich imagination. A person is very worried about his health.
- Super valuable.
Exaggerated concern for health. An individual tries to lead a healthy lifestyle, eat healthy food, is afraid of infections and spends a lot of time on disease prevention.
- Delusional.
A person sees some kind of threat even in the most harmless things. It seems to him that the therapist is deliberately hiding the real diagnosis from him. A hypochondriac may think that he has cancer because he lives in a house made of building materials irradiated by radiation.
Diagnosis of the disorder
Only a specialist has the right to diagnose a person suffering from hypochondriacal disorder. First you need to come to the clinic and be examined by a therapist, gastroenterologist, cardiologist, or oncologist. Be sure to take blood tests, urine tests, and x-rays. Be examined by ultrasound, ECG, MRI. After excluding any pathology, the hypochondriac will be referred to a psychologist or psychiatrist.
How is hypochondria different from obsessive-compulsive disorder?
Obsessive-compulsive disorder causes obsessive thoughts and groundless fears. To overcome feelings of anxiety, a person takes some action. For example, fearing infection, he washes his hands several times a day. He constantly lives in fear, waits for trouble, takes too many actions to fight an imaginary disease. This disease differs from hypochondria in its symptoms (unfounded fears, obsessive need for rituals) and in its more severe form.
Test for hypochondria
Those who want to find out how close they are to the point of crisis can take a test for hypochondria. Similar tests can be found on the Internet. In them, people being tested are asked to answer a series of questions, many of which touch on the topic of medications, treatment, and attitudes towards their own health. The test can be taken anonymously and without registering on the site. After the test taker answers all the questions, his answers are immediately processed and after a couple of seconds you can get the finished result.
How to treat hypochondria?
Depending on the severity of the disease, treatment for hypochondria is carried out on an outpatient basis or in a hospital. The main method that relieves a person from this mental disorder is psychotherapy. Correction of erroneous attitudes and beliefs is carried out. In the process of treating hypochondria, Gestalt therapy and psychoanalysis are used. The psychotherapist talks with the client, trying to find out the causes of the disorder and change his psychological attitudes.
In order to get rid of obsessive thoughts about non-existent diseases, it is advisable to seek help from psychologist-hypnologist Nikita Valerievich Baturin. Perhaps all family members will need help. The psychologist will find an approach to each client and will be able to apply family therapy for hypochondria in practice.
Treatment of hypochondria
The most effective treatment for hypochondriasis is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) []. CBT provides people with evidence-based tools and techniques to overcome their unhelpful beliefs, correct their irrational thoughts, and change their problematic behavior.
CBT can help:
- Identify fears and beliefs regarding serious illness.
- Explore different ways of viewing body sensations while working to change unhelpful thoughts.
- Change your response to body sensations and symptoms
- Get rid of habits associated with frequent checks of the body for signs of illness and constant searches for support
- Learn skills to cope with anxiety and stress
- Improve daily functioning at home, at work, in relationships and in social situations
- Learn more about how anxiety affects your feelings and behavior
- Eliminate other mental disorders such as depression.
As with other types of OCD, treatment focuses on counteracting the thoughts and situations that cause anxiety. The goal of treatment is not to convince you that you are not sick, but to help you change the way you think about anxiety and learn that you can tolerate uncertainty and fear of responsibility for a missed symptom.
Pharmacological drugs are second-line drugs for the treatment of hypochondriacal syndrome. Antidepressants such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) have been shown to be effective in this condition []. Patients who respond to antidepressant therapy are recommended to receive maintenance treatment for at least 6–12 months. Most patients require a combination of psychotherapy and pharmacological agents.
Patients with fibromyalgia need to be aware that they have a lower pain threshold. Their treatment involves teaching them how to reframe and cope with their pain[].
Hypochondria - how to get rid of it yourself?
Relatives and friends of people suffering from hypochondriasis often ask: how to get rid of hypochondria? Is it possible to help such a patient at home?
The fact is that without special training and knowledge it is impossible to cure a hypochondriac. If you tell him that he is not sick and all his illnesses are just a figment of his imagination, he will be offended. If you agree with him, then the person will “wind up” himself even more.
The best way out is to make him go to a psychotherapist under any pretext. You can imagine exactly the same illness as a hypochondriac and ask him to be with you during a visit to a psychologist. It is important to constantly draw parallels between your fictional diseases and the symptoms of hypochondriac diseases.
Hypochondriacal disorder can develop into a serious mental illness at any time. It will be even more difficult to get out of the crisis. It is advisable to begin treatment for hypochondria when the initial signs of the disease appear.
Favorite topics of a hypochondriac
Everything that happens around us: ecology, nutrition, sun spots and the lunar calendar are favorite topics of discussion for hypochondriacs in terms of the impact on the body, possible poisoning and degeneration of genes.
Complaints always have an emotional and tragic connotation: “In the morning I wake up, and my eyes are already sticking together and watering. And there’s an unpleasant feeling in the throat! And such a general weakness! And it’s been like this for a long time, it doesn’t go away. I feel like there's something wrong with me. I want to be fully examined."
It would seem: why is the doctor here? An alarm clock, a toothbrush and a cup of coffee are enough.
Often, people who do not work (but have a means of living), without constant worries and hobbies, or who are underemployed, suffer from such depressive moods.
There is a “degeneration” of labor energy into the energy of searching for illness. And the lack of social demand and attention is covered by tormenting their loved ones and exhausting doctors with their fictitious, imaginary problems.
Traditional methods of treatment
With hypochondria, a person falls into a manic state. Constantly waiting for the development of a serious illness. If you want to help a hypochondriac, you need to convince him that dark thoughts can come true. If he looks for some kind of disease, he will definitely get sick.
During times of crisis, it is recommended to take decoctions and tinctures of herbs (chamomile, mint, lemon balm, valerian, motherwort). Herbal tea is an excellent sedative. You can make a bath with the addition of a decoction of medicinal herbs or pine needles. A contrast shower or cold douche perfectly relieves hypochondria. Before going to bed, you can drink a glass of warm milk with honey.
How to get rid of suspiciousness?
Too suspicious people try on every disease. It seems to them that they have exactly the disease that they accidentally (on purpose) read about on the Internet. How to get rid of this condition? First of all, you need to go to the clinic, get all the tests done and make sure that there is no reason to worry.
If thoughts about the development of the disease are still repeated, then it’s all about mental health. You can normalize your mental balance if you seek help from a psychotherapist. You can switch your attention to a new, interesting thing. For example, sign up for swimming, get interested in drawing, gardening. For any psychological disorder, healthy sleep, good nutrition, walks in the fresh air, and a calm lifestyle help.
How to live with a hypochondriac?
Hypochondriacs are called imaginary patients. Such people constantly complain of feeling unwell and unwell. Psychologists say that hypochondria occurs in people suffering from loneliness. They specifically complain about their health in order to win the attention of their relatives, and then manipulate them.
In such a situation, you need to behave patiently. Under no circumstances should you try to convince a person that he is wrong or ridicule an imaginary illness. You just need to distract him with some new, more interesting activity. Older people can be encouraged to take up gardening or gardening, while young people can find a hobby, go on a trip, or play sports. The main thing is to switch attention to another object during illness.
Causes of hypochondria
Scientists tested the personality characteristics of people with hypochondria. It turned out that they are anxious and overly suspicious, impressionable - this applies not only to their own health, but also to all factors of both the internal and external world.
Characterized by increased sensitivity to irritants. There is an assumption that the normal impulses that the organs send are perceived by hypochondriacs as dangerous. That is, there is a failure to recognize what is normal, and what is worse - a cry from a diseased lung or heart for help.
Education also plays an important role. If a child was raised in constant fear for his health, then he will continue to obsess over it when he grows up. There is also the opposite option, when children can attract the attention of mom or dad only when they are sick. Therefore, this scheme of attracting care is used later.
If a person has suffered severe or chronic stress, a depressive illness, or neurosis (what is this?), then his psyche has become less stable and resilient to everything. After this, increased attention to all details may also appear in order to catch a sign of a threat in time.
Psychologists say that every person has a strong fear of dying . Therefore, hypochondria is a prime example of a defense mechanism to push that fateful day a little further.
It’s just that in some people this mechanism is poorly regulated (from birth or due to some ups and downs in life), as a result of which anxiety begins to go off scale, even when a harmless or even far-fetched symptom appears.
