The current psychiatric diagnostic manual has abandoned hypochondria as a disorder, replacing it in 2013 with two new concepts: somatic symptom disorder and illness anxiety disorder.
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My sister has hypochondria, or—as the condition has been rebranded in the latest version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders—"Illness Anxiety Disorder" (IAD).
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My sister has hypochondria, or—as the condition has been rebranded in the latest version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders—"Illness Anxiety Disorder" (IAD).
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Howie Mandel -- who's not a hypochondriac, but famously a germophobe -- showed up for 'AGT' Tuesday looking like most folks with illness anxiety disorder probably feel right about now.
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Patients with illness anxiety disorder may, or may not, have a real medical condition, but they experience exaggerated bodily sensations, like sweating or a rapid heart beat, that can result in extreme anxiety about the possibility they have a serious underlying illness.
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The 2013 DSM-5 replaced the diagnosis of hypochondriasis with the diagnoses of somatic symptom disorder (75%) and illness anxiety disorder (25%). Hypochondria is often characterized by fears that minor bodily or mental symptoms may indicate a serious illness, constant self-examination and self-diagnosis, and a preoccupation with one's body. Many individuals with hypochondriasis express doubt and disbelief in the doctors' diagnosis, and report that doctors’ reassurance about an absence of a serious medical condition is unconvincing, or short-lasting. Additionally, many hypochondriacs experience elevated blood pressure, stress, and anxiety in the presence of doctors or while occupying a medical facility, a condition known as "white coat syndrome".
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The classification of hypochondriasis in relation to other psychiatric disorders has long been a topic of scholarly debate, and has differed widely between different diagnostic systems and influential publications. In the case of the DSM, the first and second versions listed hypochondriasis as a neurosis, whereas the third and fourth versions listed hypochondriasis as a somatoform disorder. The current version of the DSM (DSM-5) lists somatic symptom disorder (SSD) under the heading of "somatic symptom and related disorders", and illness anxiety disorder (IAD) under both this heading and as an anxiety disorder. The ICD-10, like the third and fourth versions of the DSM, lists hypochondriasis as a somatoform disorder.
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This is important for maintaining homeostatic conditions in the body and, potentially, facilitating self-awareness. Interoceptive signals are projected to the brain via a diversity of neural pathways that allow for the sensory processing and prediction of internal bodily states. Misrepresentations of internal states, or a disconnect between the body's signals and the brain's interpretation and prediction of those signals, have been suggested to underlie some mental disorders such as anxiety, depression, panic disorder, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), autism spectrum disorders, somatic symptom disorder, and illness anxiety disorder. The contemporary definition of interoception is not synonymous with the term “visceroception”.
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