hypochondria

[ hahy-puh-kon-dree-uh ]

noun

1. Also hy·po·chon·dri·a·sis [] Psychiatry. an excessive preoccupation with one's health, usually focusing on some particular symptom, as cardiac or gastric problems.
2. excessive worry or talk about one's health.

hypochondria

/ ˌhaɪpəˈkɒndrɪə /

noun

1. chronic abnormal anxiety concerning the state of one's health, even in the absence of any evidence of disease on medical examination Also calledhypochondriasisˌhaɪpəʊkɒnˈdraɪəsɪs

hypochondria

/ hī′pə-kŏn′drē-ə /

1. A psychiatric disorder characterized by the conviction that one is ill or soon to become ill, often accompanied by physical symptoms, when illness is neither present nor likely.
2. ◆ A person with hypochondria is called a hypochondriac.

Word History and Origins

Origin of hypochondria¹

1555–65; < Late Latin < Greek, neuter plural of hypochóndrios pertaining to the upper abdomen (supposed seat of melancholy), equivalent to hypo- hypo- + chóndr ( os ) ensiform cartilage + -ios adj. suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of hypochondria¹

C18: from Late Latin: the abdomen, supposedly the seat of melancholy, from Greek hupokhondria, from hupokhondrios of the upper abdomen, from hypo- + khondros cartilage

Example Sentences

I am not sure if this person is genuinely experiencing chronic pain, suffering from hypochondria or suffering from Munchausen syndrome.

From Washington Post

And oftentimes, we can project hypochondria onto others, Akerman said.

From The Daily Beast

Is it the solution to online hypochondria, or part of the problem?

From The Daily Beast

We know the only thing more hopeless than his hypochondria is his romanticism.

From The Daily Beast

And then when you have kids, you find that your hypochondria can can extend not just to the limits of your own body but to them.

From The Daily Beast

It was fear of cancer and a douse of hypochondria that brought me to 23andMe in the first place.

From The Daily Beast

However this may be, I suffer much for lack of someone I care for during these periods of hypochondria.

From Project Gutenberg

One little case of hypochondria alone ought to be a sufficient guarantee of a steady income for years, properly managed.

From Project Gutenberg

Hypochondria has no more originary connection with the cartilage of the breastbone than with the cartilage of the ear.

From Project Gutenberg

Here he nursed his hypochondria—the nightmare of his life—and sought the only true relief in hard work.

From Project Gutenberg

The malarial poison had entered his blood, causing low fever, dull headache and general hypochondria.

From Project Gutenberg

About This Word

What does hypochondria mean?

Hypochondria was once commonly used as the name of the condition involving constantly and excessively worrying about one’s health, believing that one is or is about to become ill when there is really no reason to believe so. The condition was also formerly called hypochondriasis.

A person who worries in this way was once commonly called a hypochondriac.

However, mental health practitioners have largely stopped using the terms hypochondria and hypochondriac in favor of other terms due to such labels being seen as demeaning. People with the condition are now sometimes diagnosed with illness anxiety disorder. The chronic anxiety that the condition involves is often focused on particular ailments—such as heart or stomach pains—and may even be accompanied by physical symptoms.

It’s normal to wonder if you’re sick when you have a cough or a runny nose, but illness anxiety disorder is recognized as a mental disorder when such worrying becomes constant and excessive, especially when there are no symptoms. In these cases, the anxiety often disrupts a person’s daily life.

The words hypochondriac and hypochondria are still often used in a casual way outside of their use by medical and mental health professionals, such as in the context of a person who frequently becomes convinced that minor pains are a sign of a serious health problem. However, using the words in this way can be insensitive and offensive.

Example: Labeling patients as having hypochondria only stigmatized them—it didn’t do anything to help their underlying anxiety.

Where does hypochondria come from?

The first records of the word hypochondria come from in the mid-1500s , with hypochondriac first being recorded around the early 1600s. The terms ultimately come from the Greek hypokhondria, meaning “under the cartilage (of the upper abdomen).”

Early senses of the words hypochondria and hypochondriac were used in reference to the medieval notion that people’s personalities are based on the balance of four different types of elemental fluids in their body, called humors. An excess of one the so-called humors, black bile, was thought to cause a person to be in a state of gloominess and depression known as melancholy. This melancholy was thought to be seated in the upper abdomen. (The related term hypochondrium is still used in anatomy to refer to one of two regions in the abdomen.)

Eventually, hypochondria came to refer to a condition involving frequent complaints about stomach pains and then to the condition of believing that you have illnesses that you don’t actually have.

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms related to hypochondria?

• hypochondriac (noun, adjective)
• hypochondriacal (adjective)
• hypochondriacally (adverb)

What are some synonyms for hypochondria?

• hypochondriasis

What are some words that share a root or word element with hypochondria? 

• hypochondrium
• hypodermic
• hypothermia
• chondritis

What are some words that often get used in discussing hypochondria?

• illness
• anxiety
• disorder
• sick
• fear
• worry
• illness
• excessive