Are You Worried Sick? ; People with Hypochondria Live with the Constant Fear That They Have a Major Disease, Despite Evidence to the Contrary. But While Their Symptoms and Illnesses Might Be Imagined, Their Health Anxiety Itself Is a Very Real Disorder

Summary

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Millions of people suffer from the debilitating mental condition hypochondria as many as one person in ten. But instead of getting the help they desperately need, many are dismissed as neurotic time- wasters.

In some cases, hypochondria, or health anxiety, can be as disabling as a physical illness.

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Extract

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Are You Worried Sick? ; People with Hypochondria Live with the Constant Fear That They Have a Major Disease, Despite Evidence to the Contrary. But While Their Symptoms and Illnesses Might Be Imagined, Their Health Anxiety Itself Is a Very Real Disorder

And it can happen to anyone at any time. 'There's no evidence that hypochondriacs are excessively anxious or depressed people,' says Dr Jim Bolton, consultant liaison psychiatrist at St Helier Hospital in Surrey.

'They are ordinary people who become anxious about their health, often as a result of other events in their lives.' Usually there is a trigger, ...

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