Hypochondriac people are characterized by excessive concern about their health, to the point that they constantly analyze themselves to try to identify any sign that could indicate that they suffer from an illness, frequently go to the doctor, or consult on the Internet any symptom that they consider suspicious. , always with the terrifying feeling that the slightest discomfort could be an indication of a serious pathology.
Hypochondria is a psychological disorder, which professionals refer to as illness anxiety disorder, and although it may seem that those affected are more likely to detect an illness in time and undergo early treatment to cure it or avoid possible complications, The paradox is that they have up to 84% more risk of dying from any cause and four times more risk of suicide than people who do not suffer from the disorder, as revealed by a striking study published in JAMA Psychiatry.
People with hypochondria had four times the risk of suicide
The new study was carried out by researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, who used several Swedish population registries to identify people diagnosed with hypochondria between January 1997 and December 2020. They found 4,129 individuals (2,342 women) who had a median of 34.5 years at the time of diagnosis. They matched each of the hypochondriacs by age and sex with 10 individuals without the disorder (a total of 41,290).
For those who died during the study period, the cause of death was classified as natural (cancer, diseases of the nervous, circulatory or respiratory system) or unnatural (mainly suicide). The results showed that people with hypochondria had an 84% increased risk of mortality from all causes during the study period, including an increased risk of both natural mortality and unnatural death.
Most people with hypochondria were diagnosed with at least one additional psychiatric disorder
Furthermore, the majority of people with hypochondria were diagnosed with at least one additional psychiatric disorder (mainly anxiety-related and depressive disorders) compared to the group without hypochondria (86% vs. 20%, respectively). The most common cause of unnatural death was suicide, and the risk was four times higher in hypochondriac individuals.
“Together, these findings illustrate a paradox, according to which people with hypochondria have an increased risk of death despite their pervasive fears of illness and death. In this study, the majority of deaths could be classified as potentially preventable. “Dismissing the somatic symptoms of these individuals as imaginary can have dire consequences,” stated the authors, who conclude that their findings suggest the need for more clinical tests and treatments for hypochondria.
