help... I can't think of the term...?

Question

... what is the term used for people who think that they're sick with everything all the time but really aren't???

Answer 1

Hypochondriac??

Answer 2

That's a hypochondriac. The interesting thing about them is that they can actually create phantom illnesses to the point where their body displays the symptoms. There is another syndrome called Munchausen syndrome that is very similar.

Munchausen syndrome is a type of factitious disorder, or mental illness, in which a person repeatedly acts as if he or she has a physical or mental disorder when, in truth, they have caused the symptoms. People with factitious disorders act this way because of an inner need to be seen as ill or injured, not to achieve a concrete benefit, such as financial gain. They are even willing to undergo painful or risky tests and operations in order to get the sympathy and special attention given to people who are truly ill. Munchausen syndrome is a mental illness associated with severe emotional difficulties.

Answer 3

A person with hypochondria is preoccupied with physical health and body. The diagnosis is used when a person during at least 6 months believes, fears or is convinced that he has a serious disease despite medical reassurance. This fear of disease or preoccupation with symptoms is unpleasant, interferes with the patient's daily life in a negative way and leads to medical examinations and/or treatment. The patient can only temporarily accept assurance that there is no physical explanation to his symptoms.

Therefore they are a "hypochondriac"

Answer 4

Just wanted to add some clarification here on several terms being bandied about:

Hypochondriasis: Belief that one is ill or has a disease despite medical evidence and reassurance to the contrary.
Conversion Disorder: Development of physiological symptoms with a psycholgical origin and no underlying organic pathology where the symptoms themselves meet an underlying psychological need. Examples are Hysterical Blindness, hysterical paralysis.
Somatoform Disorder: Multiple physical symptoms involving multiple organ systems where there is either no organic pathology are distress is greatly in excess of what would be expected given the actual physical cause. Emotions are being expressed/channeled in physical ways/symptoms. Example: Psychogenic Pain Disorder.
Munchausen's Syndrome (sp?): Intentional creation of physical symptoms and/or illness in another person in order to gain sympathy or attention or to meet other psychological needs. Example: a mother who gives small amounts of poison to her child in order to make them ill so that she can continually seek medical attention for the child.
Factitious Disorder: Intentional symptom production in oneself for the purpose of receiving attention, support or sympathy.
Malingering: Faking symptoms in order to obtain some sort of secondary gain like disability, relief from obligations, avoidance of legal consequences, etc.

Answer 5

hypochondriacs

i deal with them ALL the time!!

Answer 6

hypochondriac???