Do you worry obsessively about your health? Are your friends and family members-not to mention your doctor-tired of hearing your litany of physical complaints? Do you wake up with a headache convinced you have a brain tumor? If so, you may be a hypochondriac.

Hypochondria is an actual medical diagnosis made when the person claims and believes for at least six months that he or she has a severe medical condition, despite being repeated reassured by a medical expert that this is not the case. The person is obsessed with his or her physical health and interprets every minor ache and pain as a symptom of something serious. While most people see a headache or stomachache as just that, the hypochondriac sees it as a symptom of something seriously wrong. This obsession interferes with the life of the hypochondriac and overshadows everything else.

The basis of hypochondria is anxiety, and like other anxieties, hypochondria can be treated. The hypochondriac must first come to realize that he has anxiety rather than a serious physical condition. Then the anxiety itself can be treated with therapy, medication, or hypnosis.

During therapy, the hypochondriac and the therapist discuss how his or her symptoms can be interpreted, rather than the symptoms themselves. The patient discusses his thoughts when he notices symptoms and is encouraged to accept alternative explanations of these symptoms. Therapy tends to be ongoing and may need to be coupled with medication.

Try hypnosis to treat the hypochondria.