Diagnosing Hypochondria

Let's face it. Most of us have at least a little bit of hypochondria simmering inside us. And it can bubble over from time to time -- especially if a friend or loved one happens to be ill. It's only natural. But when does an occasional tendency towards being hypochondriacal become a problem that needs attention? My good friend and CBS colleague, Richard Schlesinger says he comes from "a long line of hypochondriacs." But is he truly a hypochondriac or is he just imagining it? In this week's CBS Doc Dot Com, psychiatrist Dr. William Fisher and I speak with Richard about whether or not he truly meets the official diagnosis of "hypochondriac."

Part 1

Part 2

Comments

[kanester]

Two comments.

My favorite pharmascamacal company ploy in recent years is to advance common symptoms to a disease stage for new medicines to treat. Two of my faves are Social Anxiety Disorder and Restless Leg Syndrome ... in other words, I'm-shy-an­d-don't-wa­nt-to-have­-to-work-t­o-change-t­hat AND occasional­ly-I-get-a­-twitch-in­-my-leg (plus, I'm starting to suspect fibromyalgia ... "I'm tired, I can't sleep, my joints hurt" ... something I experience on a common basis since I reached my mid-40s).

The other item is that I wonder how anyone could listen to one of those pharmascamacal product commercials and still want to take the drug? I mean, in most of them, if DEATH is not a side affect, an exploding liver or dissolving feet are!

[propitiousmoment]

Well I wish my crummy insurance had paid for a real specialist for my real problem instead of somebody so immersed in the money-making side of his lucrative practice that he basically just blew me off after a shallow diagnosis and a referral to another money-grubbing corporate "provider.­" I've also, in the past, been the throw-a-pr­icey-drug-­at-it route, and I'm not very happy with the state of modern medicine. Let's get to single-payer health care so doctors can get back to actually practicing medicine instead of managing the flow of cash into their own pockets and the greedy insurance companies can get their hands out of ours.

[SILVANUS]

There are some great doctors out there, thank God, real men and women who believe in the Oath, but FAR TOO MUCH modern 'medicine' depends on fear/hypochondria and the clever, incessant marketing of BigPharma via our constant newspaper articles on cancer and other phenomena which exploit doubt and fear, and, wow, "Oh look", says Dan Rather (or whoever is in the seat today), "there may be a pill for that new disease we just happened to mention three weeks ago on the Nightly News that YOU already forgot we so casually planted in your mind to worry about!"

The revolution will never be televised because the television is about manufacturing and 'authenticating' these exploitable realities in people's minds (like the one Bush & media accomplished with the war), such as unnecessary sickness and the complications that mushroom when a pricey specialist comes-a-helping.

Buyer be aware.