Hypochondria

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Risk factors

By Mayo Clinic staff

Factors that may increase your risk of developing hypochondria include:

  • Having a serious illness during childhood
  • Knowing family members or others with a serious disease
  • The death of a loved one
  • Having an anxiety disorder
  • Believing good health means that you are free of all physical symptoms or unusual bodily sensations
  • Having close family members with hypochondria
  • Feeling especially vulnerable to illness or disease
  • Having parents who were neglectful or abusive

Hypochondria occurs about equally in men and women. It can develop at any age, even in children, but it most often starts in early adulthood.

Complications Causes
References
  1. Hypochondriasis. In: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV-TR. 4th ed. Arlington, Va.: American Psychiatric Association; 2000. http://www.psychiatryonline.com. Accessed Aug. 27, 2010.
  2. Asmundson GJ. Health anxiety: Current perspectives and future directions. Current Psychiatry Reports. 2010;12:306.
  3. Greenberg DB, et al. Somatization. In: Stern TA, et al. Massachusetts General Hospital Comprehensive Clinical Psychiatry. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/217852368-5/0/1657/229.html?tocnode=57542807&fromURL=229.html#4-u1.0-B978-0-323-04743-2..50026-3_582. Accessed Aug. 27, 2010.
  4. Ferri FF. Hypochondriasis. In: Ferri FF. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2011: Instant Diagnosis and Treatment. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2011. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/page.do?eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05610-6..00017-2--sc29050&isbn=978-0-323-05610-6&type=bookPage&sectionEid=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05610-6..00017-2--sc29050&uniqId=217852368-6#4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05610-6..00017-2--sc29050. Accessed Aug 27, 2011.
  5. Smith RC. Primary care management of medically unexplained symptoms. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Aug. 27, 2010.
  6. Greenberg DB. Primary care management of medically unexplained symptoms. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Aug. 27, 2010.
DS00841 Nov. 23, 2010

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