A hypochondriac is an individual who thinks they are constantly ill, when in fact they are not.
That was a terrible question, because you call someone who thinks they are ill all the time a hypercondriac. So as in Jeopardy, "What do you call someone who is constantly under the impression that they are ill?" Answer: "What is an a hypercondriac?" That is correct!
A hypercondriac is a person who thinks they are always sick.A hypocondriac is a person is who is in fear of getting sick.
Hypercondriac
Someone who is always worried and paranoid about the least pain or symptom that they get is a Hypercondriac. They are preoccupied with their health.
The symptoms of a hypochondriac and a child really being sick can be similar. The best way to determine if your child is really sick is to take the to the doctor.
The development of hypochondria, or health anxiety, can vary significantly from person to person and may take weeks, months, or even years. It often arises from a combination of genetic, psychological, and environmental factors, including past health experiences or significant stressors. For some individuals, a specific traumatic event related to health can trigger heightened anxiety about illness. Ultimately, the timeline for becoming a hypochondriac is highly individual and can be influenced by various life circumstances.
A hypochondriac in children, often referred to as a child with illness anxiety disorder, is a child who frequently worries about having a serious medical condition despite having little or no evidence of one. They may excessively seek reassurance from parents or healthcare providers and become preoccupied with bodily sensations, interpreting them as signs of illness. This behavior can lead to significant anxiety and distress, affecting their daily functioning and quality of life. Early intervention and support from caregivers and mental health professionals can help manage these concerns.
Hypercondria is caused by anxiety. Anxiety can cause both physical and mental symptoms. The physical being headaches, feeling ill, etc. Physcological symptoms include extreme fear of being in grave health danger, being scared of death due to some sort of health risk, etc. I am a hypercondriac, and what triggers it for me is cancer. Cancer runs in my family and 2 of my family members died of it, while several others have been diagnosed with it. I then thought that I would get it. Other things I fear are things that also run in my family, such as diabetes (my mom had it), schizophrenia (my mom had it), etc. I've gone to doctors and a physcologist and was told I am not in danger these things. Even so, it still runs in my mind that I may get this still. This is called an irrational thought. Other people may call it paranoya or phycotic behaviour, however, it is not. Hypercondria falls under an anxiety disorder, and medicines are often not needed for treatment. Cognitive and behavioral therapy can be very effective in treating hypercondria. The main thing that you must do is rationalize your irrational fears. For example (as with me), I had a headache one day, and feared it was brain cancer. I feared this because my neighbor had it, and sadly passed away from it. A headache is obviously a real symptom, but is it necessary to worry about it? I worried about it because I came to the preassumption that what my neighbor had, also will happen to me. Three things come into play when you think of a sickness, what are my chances of getting it, is it treatable, and is it fatal. Brain cancer can be very deadly and at times untreatable, that in its self scared me severely. However, I missed one key factor, my chances of getting it were slim. Most headaches people have are non-serious at all, and on top of that, I showed no other symptoms. I came to the conclusion that I was in no serious need of seeking a doctor at that time. And guess what? The headache went away the next day, big suprise... A normal person would be frustrated with the headache, taking some Tylenol, while a hypercondriac would be looking up brain cancer on Google. I have been treat by a physcologist and the treatment for this hypercondria has been very effective, and one thing I was taught was to rationalize my fears. I hope this helped.