| LC control no. | sh 85063763 |
|---|---|
| LC classification | RC552.H8 |
| Topical heading | Illness anxiety disorder |
| Variant(s) | Health anxiety disorder Hypochondria Hypochondriacal neurosis Hypochondriasis Medical anxiety disorder Neurosis, Hypochondriacal Passio hypochondriaca Vapors (Disease) Vapours (Disease) |
| See also | Anxiety disorders |
| Scope note | Here are entered works on a disorder in which the patient shows unrealistic and excessive fear and anxiety about potential health problems. Works on a disorder in which the patient has numerous, recurrent, and long-lasting bodily complaints that are not due to any physical cause are entered under Somatic symptom disorder. |
| Subject example tracing | Note under Somatic symptom disorder |
| Found in | Holmes, D.S. Abnormal psychology, c1991. Intl. dict. med. biol. (Hypochondriasis, also called hypochondria, hypochondriacal neurosis; vapors: obsolete term for hypochondriasis) MESH (Hypochondriasis x Neurosis, Hypochondriacal) Campbell, R.J. Psychiatric dict., 1996 (Vapors: obs. Hysteria, hypochondriasis; Passio hypochondriaca: obs. Hypochondriasis) OED (Vapor (def. 3b): Morbid condition supposed to be caused by the presence of such exhalations; depression of spirits, hypochondria, hysteria, or other nervous disorder (1665-1750)) 5 Ways to Tell if You Have Cyberchondria; in Psychology Today, Sept. 13, 2016; accessed online Aug. 23 2021 (A few years ago, the diagnostic nomenclature in psychiatry officially removed the term "hypochondriasis," replacing it with the less pejorative and perhaps more accurate "illness anxiety" or "health anxiety." The core of this type of anxious concern is a tendency to interpret normal variations in the body's functions as reflecting symptoms of a serious disease) Mayo Clinic, Patient Care & Health Information. Illness anxiety disorder, acccessed online Aug. 23, 2021 (Illness anxiety disorder, sometimes called hypochondriasis or health anxiety, is worrying excessively that you are or may become seriously ill. You may have no physical symptoms. Or you may believe that normal body sensations or minor symptoms are signs of severe illness, even though a thorough medical exam doesn't reveal a serious medical condition. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), published by the American Psychiatric Association, no longer includes hypochondriasis--also called hypochondria--as a diagnosis. Instead, people previously diagnosed with hypochondriasis may be diagnosed as having illness anxiety disorder, in which the focus of the fear and worry is on uncomfortable or unusual physical sensations being an indication of a serious medical condition) Center for the Treatment of Anxiety & Mood Disorders; accessed online Aug. 23, 2021 (Health Anxiety Disorder: a person's persistent fear that they are suffering, or will suffer, from a disease or other serious medical condition, known as health anxiety disorder, or hypochondria) Google search, Aug. 23, 2021 (Health anxiety disorder, 311,000 hits; Illness anxiety disorder, 115,000 hits; Medical anxiety disorder, 2460 hits) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. Fifth edition (DSM-5), 2013: p. 315 (Illness Anxiety Disorder: Most individuals with hypochrondriasis are now classified as having somatic symptom disorder; however, in a minority of cases, the diagnosis of illness anxiety disorder applies instead. Illness anxiety disorder entails a preoccupation with having or acquiring a serious, undiagnosed medical illness. Somatic symptoms are not present, or, if present, are only mild in intensity. A thorough evaluation fails to identify a serious medical condition that accounts for the individual's concerns. ... The individual's distress emanates not primarily from the physical complaint itself but rather from his or her anxiety about the meaning, significance, or cause of the complaint (i.e., the suspected medical diagnosis)) |
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