Medical Definition of Hypochondriacal neurosis
1.
A mental disorder characterised by a preoccupation with bodily functions and the interpretation of normal sensations (such as heart beats, sweating, peristaltic action and bowel movements) or minor abnormalities (such as a runny nose, minor aches and pains or slightly swollen lymph nodes) as indications of highly disturbing problems needing medical attention.
Negative results of diagnostic evaluations and reassurance by physicians only increase the patients anxious concern about his health and the patient continues to seek medical attention.
It was thought by the ancients to be due to disturbed function of the organs of the upper abdomen.
Synonym: hypochondriacal neurosis.
This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology
(11 Mar 2008)
Lexicographical Neighbors of Hypochondriacal Neurosis
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