PSYCHOLOGICAL TREATMENT OF HEALTH ANXIETY AND HYPOCHONDRIASIS: A Biopsychosocial Approach

Between 25% and 50% of visits to primary care clinics are for somatic complaints with no identifiable organic pathology. While most people are reassured when told they are not ill, a certain percentage is convinced the doctor has missed something serious. For centuries, hypochondriasis and persistent somatic complaints have baffled physicians and mental health professionals alike. Recent decades, however, have seen advances in the understanding and treatment of this problem when it is considered a form of health anxiety.