Is hypochondria a medical diagnosis?
In common language hypochondriac indicates a person who «thinks he is ill» or merely «imagines that he has symptoms». However, hypochondria, or excessive health anxiety, is as serious as any other medical diagnosis. It has always been a part of the official medical diagnostic systems, and still is. Hypochondria must be “positively diagnosed”, i.e. it is not enough to exclude physical disease, the exaggerated health anxiety must also be found. Hypochondria is as common in men as in women, and can be found in all age groups and social classes.
