Hypochondria seen as unaddressed in healthcare reform debate.

In an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune (8/23), Michael Socolow, an assistant professor of communication and journalism at the University of Maine, wrote that although “hypochondria affects the American healthcare system,” it “remains surprisingly unaddressed in the debate over healthcare reform.” In 1998, a “study concluded that about three percent of visits to primary-care physicians could be attributed to hypochondria, and another estimated that about a quarter of all patients report symptoms with no apparent physical basis.” According to Jerome Groopman, MD, of Harvard Medical School, an “estimated $20 billion a year is spent on patients whose psychological distress requires repeated tests and procedures.” But, with “little hard data, it is impossible to discern whether Americans are particularly prone to hypochondria or whether rates of hypochondria are increasing.” Meanwhile, “imaginary illnesses, mystical ailments, and vague complaints with no physical basis” are costing money. Therefore, the US will have to “move past” its “discomfort and address the economic ramifications of hypochondria — even if it makes us feel queasy.”

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