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Causes
By Mayo Clinic staffThe normal human body constantly produces a variety of sensations and symptoms — a random pain here, a twitch there. Most people never notice these, just ignore them or treat them as the common, everyday sensations that they usually are. But when you have hypochondria, every sensation or symptom, no matter how minor, is evidence to you that you have a serious or life-threatening disease. A headache, for example, signals a brain tumor. A shaky hand signals Parkinson's disease. A cough, lung cancer.
Why one person is able to ignore common bodily sensations while another winds up with hypochondria isn't known — hypochondria has no specific known cause. Some experts now believe that hypochondria is a type of obsessive-compulsive disorder, and further research may help shed light on that connection and possible causes.
In addition, some research suggests that the body's natural fight-or-flight response may be partly responsible for causing hypochondria. People with hypochondria often feel anxiety. Anxiety can cause a physiological arousal in the body that includes an increased heart rate, shortness of breath, sweating, nausea, dizziness and other sensations. When you have hypochondria, you mistakenly interpret these signs and symptoms as further evidence of illness, which increases your anxiety, and in turn, intensifies your symptoms, creating a vicious cycle.
- Hypochondriasis. In: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV-TR. 4th ed. Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association, 2000. http://www.psychiatryonline.com. Accessed Oct. 28, 2008.
- Oyama O, et al. Somatoform disorders. American Family Physician. 2007;76(9):1333-1338.
- Abramowitz JS, et al. Hypochondriasis: Conceptualization, treatment, and relationship to obsessive-compulsive disorder. Psychiatric Clinics of North America 2006;29:503-519.
- Bouman TK, et al. A psychoeducational approach to hypochondriasis: Background, content, and practice guidelines. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice. 2008;15:231-243.
- Thomson AB, et al. Psychotherapies for hypochondriasis. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2007:CD006520.
- Harding KJ, et al. Advances in understanding illness anxiety. Current Psychiatry Reports. 2008;10:311-317.
- Greenberg DB, et al. Somatization disorder. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Sept. 10, 2008.
