Is a hypochondriac a character flaw or disorder?

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

Caring for one's he alth is inherent in every normal person. However, everyone approaches this issue in their own way. One neglects to follow a he althy lifestyle, until the last he will delay a visit to the doctor and will never take a pill, even for a headache. The second, at the slightest indisposition, suspects a terrible illness, begins endless trips to clinics and specialists, and is very offended if he is "not taken seriously." A hypochondriac is just a person who is overly concerned about his he alth.

In relation to one's own state, none of the extremes can be considered the right approach. It is impossible to calmly watch and condone the self-destruction of a person who abuses alcohol and nicotine, who does not give a damn about all the recommendations of doctors and relatives. But even if a hypochondriac lives in the family, this becomes a difficult test for loved ones. Such a person is constantly worried about his physical condition, he is suspicious, it always seems to him that he is seriously ill. Physicians, of course, are incapablecorrectly diagnose his "exceptional case".

However, you should not think that everything comes down only to Moliere's "Imaginary Sick". This comedy character was constantly preoccupied with enemas, bloodletting and compresses. According to modern concepts and the international classification of diseases, hypochondriac is a mental disorder. Similar symptoms are accompanied by other disorders - for example, depression, borderline conditions. The essence of the disorder is that a hypochondriac is a person who is sure that he has physical illnesses, while the basis of all his ailments is psychosomatic. That is why it is believed that treatment with drugs for such people is contraindicated. The psycho-emotional state of a person in such cases is corrected by auto-training, hypnosis, the correct daily routine, and psychotherapy.

This disorder is accompanied by increased anxiety, fear, depressive mood. A hypochondriac is a person who is sure that he is seriously ill, so he tends to interpret any slight ailments as symptoms of a serious illness. At the same time, he cannot understand that his mood and attitudes are, in fact, primary. And only after them appear - as a result of fixing attention on bodily manifestations - various somatic disorders.

Since the disease is associated with increased anxiety and depression, a necessary condition for cure will be a general psychological and psychiatriccharacterization of the human condition. Various test methods help to detect and confirm the presence of personality deviations. Since a hypochondriac is a person who ignores "simple" explanations for his unpleasant sensations (a stab in the chest means a heart attack, a headache is certainly a tumor, and not just fatigue or a change in the weather), he needs the help of a psychotherapist. Attention should also be paid to the fact that all sorts of "scientific" and pseudo-professional articles in newspapers and the Internet on the topic of he alth contribute to the development and spread of the disorder. Journalists simply love to make a huge elephant out of a tiny fly, and pharmaceutical concerns come to their aid, interested in selling their products. That is why the layman, little versed in medicine and the achievements of science, so easily falls for the newspaper bait. And there, what terrible diseases are not described … Take care of your he alth, but wisely.