The study involved a meta-analysis of treatment outcome research and examined the extent to which different therapies reduce the symptoms of hypochondriasis. Meta-analysis is a state-of-the-art method for reviewing research and drawing conclusions from across multiple studies.

Patients with hypochondriasis misinterpret benign physical symptoms as indicating that they have a serious medical illness, leading them to seek excessive reassurance from doctors. “We see patients who believe that their headaches are really brain tumors, or who are afraid to take a shower because they might notice a lump in their breast,” said Dr. Jonathan Abramowitz, a clinical psychologist and Director of the Anxiety Disorders Treatment Program at Mayo Clinic.

“We found that the best form of treatment is cognitive-behavioral therapy; a certain form of psychotherapy that corrects misinterpretations of normal body sensations”, said Sheila Wadewitz, M.A., the study’s co-investigator. Antidepressant medicine such as serotonin reuptake inhibitors, were also effective. Both treatments reduced anxiety and depression as well as health anxiety.

People with hypochondriasis remain convinced that they are ill despite appropriate medical evaluation. “Because sufferers continue to seek reassurance from doctors, hypochondriasis is associated with a strain on medical resources, escalation in costs, and it can expose healthy patients to the unnecessary risks of some diagnostic procedures,” Abramowitz said. “Furthermore, many patients refuse appropriate psychiatric treatment”, he continued.

This study has important implications for both the fields of medicine and mental health since hypochondriasis has traditionally been considered highly treatment refractory. Dr. Abramowitz’s research team at Mayo Clinic is conducting further studies on the treatment of this disorder