This title seeks to change the way we think about hypochondria and to use hypochondria to sharpen our thinking about health care. The book's four parts examine hypochondria as a condition of biology; of medicine; of culture; and of narrative.
Writing with grace, humor, and an expert's eye for revealing detail, Susan Baur illuminates the processes by which hypochondriacs come to adopt and maintain illness as a way of life.
The author summarizes the latest theories on the nature and origins of hypochondria; describes treatments, medications, therapies, and offers readers a test about their own health concerns.
If there is one thing that can help relieve health anxiety, it's finding out that you're not alone. Do you constantly get anxious about your health and seek reassurance? Have you found yourself analysing every single sensation in your body? Are you spending time on the internet always looking for answers? Do you have heart palpatations that make you think you're having a heart attack? Does that impending heart attack give you a panic attack? Are you still not dead? You can rest assured it's not just you! Philip Martins was once a hypochondriac and has survived, among other things, cancer, motor neurone disease, meningitis, multiple sclerosis and having been bitten by a mosquito once, malaria. In this book he tells you how he got through his years of health anxiety, provides some anecdotes of his crazier times to cheer you up and gives you some tips all in the hope that it can bring a little relief to help you realise you're not alone. If you have health anxiety and are looking for something to relate to then this is the book for you.
In the recently updated Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), the diagnostic concept of hypochondriasis was eliminated and replaced by somatic symptom disorder and illness anxiety disorder. Hypochondriasis and Health Anxiety: A Guide for Clinicians, edited by Vladan Starcevic and Russell Noyes and written by prominent clinicians and researchers in the field, addresses current issues in recognizing, understanding, and treating hypochondriasis. Using a pragmatic approach, it offers a wealth of clinically useful information. The book also provides a critical review of the underlying conceptual and treatment issues, addressing varying perspectives and synthesizing the current research. Specific topics the text covers include: clinical manifestations, diagnostic and conceptual issues, classification, relationships with other disorders, assessment, epidemiology, economic aspects, course, outcome and treatment. Additionally, the book discusses patient-physician relationship in the context of hypochondriasis and health anxiety and presents cognitive, behavioral, interpersonal and psychodynamic models and treatments. The authors also address the neurobiological underpinnings of hypochondriasis and health anxiety and pharmacological treatment approaches. Based on the extensive clinical experience of its authors, there are numerous case illustrations and practical examples of how to assess, understand and manage individuals presenting with disease preoccupations, health anxiety and/or beliefs that they are seriously ill. It approaches its subject from various perspectives and is a work of integration and critical thinking about an area often shrouded in controversy.
The hilarious first-person account of life as a hypochondriac-from the critically acclaimed author of Devil in the Details. Jennifer Traig does not suffer from lupus, multiple sclerosis, Crohn's Disease, or muscular dystrophy. Nor does she have SUDS, the mysterious disorder that claims healthy young Asian men in their sleep. What she does have is hypochondria. In Well Enough Alone, Traig provides an uproariously funny inquiry into her ailment, as well as a well-researched history of the disorder. While chronicling her life as a hypochondriac and the minor conditions that helped to fuel her persistent self-diagnosis, she offers a literary tour of the disorder's past and present. And by the end, her journey leaves her more knowledgeable, a little less neurotic, and-one might say-healthier.
Grounded in current theory and treatment research, this highly practical book presents a comprehensive framework for assessing and treating health anxiety, including full-blown and milder (subclinical) forms of hypochondriasis. The current state of knowledge about these prevalent and costly problems is reviewed, and assessment methods and empirically supported treatments described. Clear, step-by-step recommendations are provided for engaging patients or clients, implementing carefully planned cognitive and behavioral interventions, and troubleshooting potential pitfalls. Important advances in pharmacotherapy for persons with health anxiety disorders are also discussed. Enhancing the utility of this clinician- and student-friendly resource are numerous case examples and sample dialogues, quick-reference tables and boxed material, and over 20 reproducible handouts and assessment forms.
A witty, highly entertaining compendium of the many obscure potential killers that lurk in modern society. From telephone stroke (holding the receiver too tightly to one's head) to the most common housework-related fatalities among men, health journalist John Naish culls the most intriguing, odd, and completely true medical findings and bizarre syndromes. Fans of The Worst Case Scenario books and Schott's Original Miscellany will revel in this latest addition to the reference shelf. But don't let it make you fret too much--research shows that worrying about your health quadruples your chances of an early death.
Hypochondriasis remains controversial, despite its 2000-year history. Although it is considered a mental disorder, hypochondriasis is often regarded as a defense mechanism, peculiar cognitive/ perceptual style, means of nonverbal communication, response to stress, abnormal illness behavior, personality trait, distinct personality disturbance, and part of other mental disorders. Disagreements about etiology and pathogenesis of hypochondriasis go hand in hand with disagreements about its treatment. this book fills the need for a modern, balanced, in-depth, and integrative overview of hypochondriasis as a mental disorder with diverse manifestations. Written by world experts and from different perspectives, it aims to be a state-of-the-art text, demonstrating how the current concepts of hypochondriasis are linked with its rich history, critically examining diagnostic and nosologic issues and suggesting ways of overcoming the conceptual obstacles, describing current views on the etiology, pathogenesis and psychopathology, presenting main treatment approaches, and providing treatment guidelines. This book is intended for both practicing clinicians and researchers. An important resource for all psychiatrists, primary care physicians, clinical psychologists, and other mental health professionals, it will also be of interest for psychiatry residents, medical students, graduate students in clinical psychology, and lay public.