What is hypochondriasis (hypochondria)?
Explanation
This question asks for the definition of hypochondriasis, distinguishing it from other related somatoform disorders by its focus on the fear of illness.
Other questions
What is the definition of a psychological disorder?
According to the one-year prevalence rates for psychological disorders in the United States from 2001-2003, what percentage of the population was affected by any mental disorder?
The bio-psycho-social model of illness posits that disorders are caused by a combination of factors. Which component refers to influences such as patterns of negative thinking and stress responses?
What term is used to describe the condition where an individual who suffers from one psychological disorder also suffers from other disorders at the same time?
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), on which axis are personality disorders and mental retardation listed?
What is attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) characterized by, according to the text?
What is the defining characteristic of a generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)?
What is agoraphobia defined as?
Which condition involves disruptions or breakdowns of memory, awareness, and identity, often used as a defense against trauma?
What is the key difference between dissociative amnesia and dissociative fugue?
What percentage of the U.S. population is estimated to suffer from a mood disorder in a given year?
Dysthymia is a condition characterized by mild, but chronic, depressive symptoms that last for at least how long?
Which psychological disorder is characterized by swings in mood from overly 'high' (mania) to sad and hopeless, and back again?
What is the most chronic and debilitating of all psychological disorders, affecting approximately 3 million people in the United States at any one time?
In the context of schizophrenia, what are positive symptoms?
What are delusions of grandeur, a common symptom in people with schizophrenia?
A personality disorder is defined as a disorder characterized by what?
Personality disorders are categorized into three clusters. Which cluster is characterized by anxious or inhibited behavior?
Which personality disorder is known as an internalizing disorder, is more frequently found in women, and is often associated with fears of abandonment and suicide?
To be diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder (APD), a person must be at least 18 years of age and have a documented history of which disorder before the age of 15?
What is the key difference between somatoform disorders and factitious disorders?
Which disorder is a type of somatoform disorder where patients experience specific neurological symptoms like numbness, blindness, or paralysis without any neurological explanation?
What is the primary motivation for patients with factitious disorder to fake physical symptoms?
Gender identity disorder (GID), or transsexualism, is diagnosed when an individual displays a persistent discomfort with one's sex and a strong desire to be the other sex, accompanied by what?
What is a paraphilia?
What was the one-year prevalence rate for antisocial personality disorder in the U.S. from 2001-2003, according to the provided table?
Which historical reformer advocated for the introduction of exercise, fresh air, and daylight for mental asylum inmates, believing mental illness was caused by physical and psychological stressors?
A person diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) engages in compulsions primarily to do what?
According to the text, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a frequent outcome of what type of experience?
What is the median age of onset for mood disorders?
Major depressive disorder occurs about how many times more often in women than it does in men?
The onset of schizophrenia usually occurs between which ages?
A flat affect, which means expressing almost no emotional response, is an example of what type of symptom in schizophrenia?
Research into the biological causes of schizophrenia has found that many people with the disorder have enlarged cerebral ventricles. What are cerebral ventricles?
Which personality disorder is characterized by a distrust in others and a suspicion that people have sinister motives?
The chapter estimates that the number of people with personality disorders may be as high as what percentage of the population?
What is the key distinction between factitious disorder and malingering?
What is the approximate prevalence of sexual dysfunction in women and men, respectively?
Which condition is characterized by a person experiencing recurrent or persistent genital pain associated with sexual intercourse?
The term 'stigma' in the context of psychological disorders refers to what?
In the United States, about 1 in every 4 Americans, or over 78 million people, are affected by a psychological disorder during any one year. This impact is noted to be particularly strong on which groups?
Asperger's disorder is described as having symptoms almost identical to which other disorder, with the exception of a delay in language development?
What is the heritability of autism estimated to be?
Phobias affect about what percentage of American adults?
What are the two main components of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)?
Which neurotransmitter is most commonly associated with the biological cause of schizophrenia, with excess amounts being a key part of one major theory?
Which personality disorder from Cluster B is characterized by constant attention seeking, grandiose language, and provocative dress?
What is the most severe form of factitious disorder, in which the patient has a lifelong pattern of successive hospitalizations for faked symptoms?
A person with schizoid personality disorder is often seen as a 'loner' due to which characteristics?