Hypochondriacs May Find Relief

Hypochondriacs may soon see new and more effective forms of treatment if doctors heed the advice of a study published this week by two Harvard Medical School (HMS) researchers.

The study, conducted by HMS Professor of Psychology Arthur J. Barsky and HMS Assistant Professor of Psychology David K. Ahern, demonstrated that what is often termed “health anxiety” can in fact be treated effectively using behavioral cognitive therapy.

This study, entitled “Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Hypochondriasas,” is one of the first aimed at curbing hypochondria, though the illness itself has existed for 2,000 years, said HMS Clinical Professor of Psychiatry author of the book Hypochondriasis: Modern Perspectives on an Ancient Malady Don R. Lipsitt.

Hypochondria, which involves the enduring false belief that one is suffering from illness, is “a diffuse conglomeration of symptoms,” Lipsitt said. This is one reason why hypochondria remains an extremely difficult pathology to treat, he said.

Treatments in the past, such as reassuring sufferers that there is nothing wrong with them, have been ineffective, Barsky said.

He and Ahern instead focused on techniques that helped patients restructure their thinking so that they could “fully understand their symptoms and what they mean,” Barsky, who is also director of psychiatric research at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said.

Barsky said that the study, published in the March 24 Journal of the American Medical Association, will likely send research in two directions. The first will involve the exploration of dual treatments using both antidepressants and cognitive therapy.

Integration of treatment in the medical setting will serve as the second focus, dealing with the training of health care professionals such as nurses and primary care physicians in counseling and detection for hypochondriacs, Barsky said.

Even with this progression, however, most sufferers will continue to go undiagnosed, as they are hesitant to seek treatment from mental health clinicians, Barsky said.

He added that a great stigma is still attached to the malady.

This is why, Lipsitt said, it is important for physicians and family members, as the first step towards treatment, to acknowledge that “the patient is not willfully creating their symptoms” but rather suffering from a sickness that is “very real.”