Types and Diagnosis Steps

Hypochondria is a face with many names. Depending on specific cases it may be referred with a different title. For example, Illness Anxiety disorder is defined by Merriam-Webster as having fear of having or acquiring in the future a serious disorder which the symptoms of this must last for at least six months. Another name commonly used to describe this condition is health anxiety which runs along the same lines.


There are typically two directions that hypochondria tends to go provided by the National Health Service:

  1.  Constantly seeking information and reassurance – obsessively researching illnesses from the internet, constant doctor appointments, and having frequent test regardless of results
  2. Avoidant behavior – avoiding anything that could bring on new or worsening symptoms, avoid consulting with medical professionals and doctors, and avoiding anything that will trigger anxieties.

Diagnosis: Medical professionals are often the first to detect hypochondria in their patients after their negative test results are not accepted by the patient or new conditions and symptoms are brought to the surface regularly. The next step taken is referral to a mental health specialist or a psychologist. For a diagnosis to be made for hypochondria there is usually just an evaluation and almost never are there medical scans or tests. Treatment is then provided to increase the patient’s quality of life.

According to the DSM-V  – A nondelusional preoccupation with fears of having a severe physical disease, persisting of the preoccupation despite medical evaluations and reassurance from professionals, clinically significant distress or interference with daily functioning, and these symptoms must last for at least six months at a time.