Hypochondria, Malingering and Stigmatization

Any hypochondriac will tell you that stigma is a part of their life. On second thought, most hypochondriacs won’t even tell you their a hypochondriac in an attempt to avoid that stigmatization all together. I’m part of that group, I won’t tell my family or friends, let alone my doctor.

I think part of the stigma surrounding hypochondria is the public’s misperception of the disorder. Many people incorrectly characterize hypochondriacs as individuals who intentionally fake illness for gain. Contrary to popular belief, that is not hypochondria, it’s malingering.

Hypochondria is an excessive preoccupation with illness. An internal battle of an individual who wants nothing more than to be healthy, but obsesses that she is sick. Quite adverse to malingering, many hypochondriacs—though they believe they are sick—intentionally fake health to avoid stigma.

Malingering on the other hand, is not a preoccupation with illness, or an internal battle. It’s a deliberate falsification of illness for gain. An example of malingering would be an individual who fakes a fall at work in order to receive workers’ compensation. The malingering individual knows she is not sick. The hypochondriac believes she is.

I think once the public realizes that hypochondriacs aren’t conniving individuals, there will be sympathy for hypos rather than disgust. Hypochondriacs will no longer be dismissed, but treated as individuals with a tangible disorder.