[9][10] Hypochondria is often characterized by fears that minor bodily or mental symptoms may indicate a serious illness, constant self-examination and self-diagnosis, and a preoccupation with one's body.
Additionally, many hypochondriacs experience elevated blood pressure, stress, and anxiety in the presence of doctors or while occupying a medical facility, a condition known as "white coat syndrome".
[15] Other people are so afraid of any reminder of illness that they will avoid medical professionals for a seemingly minor problem, sometimes to the point of becoming neglectful of their health when a serious condition may exist and go undiagnosed.
For example, people with depression often experience changes in appetite and weight fluctuation, fatigue, decreased interest in sex, and motivation in life overall.
[18] Intense anxiety is associated with rapid heartbeat, palpitations, sweating, muscle tension, stomach discomfort, dizziness, shortness of breath, and numbness or tingling in certain parts of the body (hands, forehead, etc.).
[20] In the same way, someone with psychological issues such as depression or anxiety will sometimes experience physical manifestations of these affective fluctuations, often in the form of medically unexplained symptoms.
[21] Common symptoms include headaches; abdominal, back, joint, rectal, or urinary pain; nausea; fever and/or night sweats; itching; diarrhea; dizziness; or balance problems.
Non-shared environmental factors (i.e., experiences that differ between twins in the same family) explain most of the variance in key components of the condition such as the fear of illness and disease conviction.
An excessive focus on minor health concerns and serious illness of the individual or a family member in childhood have also been implicated as potential causes of hypochondriasis.
[15] In the media and on the Internet, articles, TV shows, and advertisements regarding serious illnesses such as cancer and multiple sclerosis often portray these diseases as being random, obscure, and somewhat inevitable.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that some individuals become hypochondriac after experiencing major medical diagnosis[24] or death of a family member or friend.
"[28] Approximately 20 randomized controlled trials and numerous observational studies indicate that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment for hypochondriasis.
The word derives from the Greek term ὑποχόνδριος hypokhondrios, meaning "of the soft parts between the ribs and navel" from ὑπό hypo ("under") and χόνδρος khondros, or cartilage (of the sternum).
[41] Until the early 18th century, the term referred to a "physical disease caused by imbalances in the region that was below your rib cage" (i.e., of the stomach or digestive system).
Immanuel Kant discussed hypochondria in his 1798 book, Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View, like this: The disease of the hypochondriac consists in this: that certain bodily sensations do not so much indicate a really existing disease in the body as rather merely excite apprehensions of its existence: and human nature is so constituted – a trait which the animal lacks – that it is able to strengthen or make permanent local impressions simply by paying attention to them, whereas an abstraction – whether produced on purpose or by other diverting occupations – lessens these impressions, or even effaces them altogether.