When Imagination Becomes a Disease: Dealing With Hypochondriacal Patients in Clinical Practice

Hypochondriacal patients are always a challenge. They require an overabundance of physicians’ time; they are responsible for excessive healthcare dollars; they demand extensive and often unnecessary testing; they make repeated visits for negligible issues; they are in search of a new medication when previous medications did not help or had adverse side effects; and they are rarely satisfied when no definitive diagnosis or treatment is provided. They frequently require excessive telephone time with the physician and ancillary staff