Overcoming Hypochondria among Medical Students: Tips and Reflections

2023-11-18 11:18:53

Being afraid of suffering from some type of disease is among the most common fears of human beings. Despite being something common, there are people who take it to the extreme: they are the hypochondriacal people, who constantly look for causes of diseases that, many times, they do not harbor in their body. But this not only occurs in patients, but also among medical studentswho after studying the different pathologies and seeing them during internships in the hospital, can cloud their judgment and end up misdiagnosing yourself.

“Being a hypochondriac is something that I see a lot among medical students,” he acknowledged. Javier Martinfifth year student at the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM). According to her, having so much knowledge about pathologies and being able to recognize their signs can sometimes play tricks.

“Hypochondria is very different when Do you study medicine that when not. I see this with my friends. They are in pain for two months and that’s when they start to worry. On the other hand, those of us who take this course and notice pain after three days, already think that something is not right. Yes, it is true that I try to reason it, but sometimes it is inevitable,” he said.

To give an example of how he was once a victim of hypochondriaMartín has detailed Medical Writing the time he was doing an exercise in the gym with weights, and when he left them on the floor he felt a “terrifying” pain in his head. “The first thing I thought of was a hemorrhage. I didn’t lose consciousness or anything, but I came to the ER. They made me a scanner and in the end it was nothing, thank God,” he stressed.

Hypochondria after medical classes

A similar thought is the one that has Maria Suarez, also a UAM student. According to what he has acknowledged to this newspaper, this fear of suffering from some type of disease occurs frequently in his life. “It’s leaving a class and I’m already diagnosed,” she stated.

Like Martín, this student also wanted to tell a clear example of how she experiences her hypochondria. In this way, she has reported that when she received the vaccine for coronavirus a ganglion on the left sidewhich becomes very inflamed when a person suffers stomach cancer. “Well, I thought she had this pathology and I was very nervous. In the end it was my mother who told me that it would be because of the vaccine and so it was,” she said, embarrassed.

Hypochondria among medical students

Despite having these feelings, Suarez recognizes that it is necessary to have a real perspective and do not succumb to fear. “In the hospital we are very biased. We see unique cases and in the worst conditions and in the end that influences. I know that I will finish my degree and I will continue calling my mother believing that I have some serious illness so that she will be the one to tell me that I don’t have it,” she slipped.

To prevent this fear of suffering from a disease from taking over the minds of medical students, the two interviewees have agreed on the same point: stop to think about the symptoms one presents and if they truly have any relationship with the pathology they fear. In fact, they themselves recognize that after a reflection periodthose thoughts they disappear.

If this is not enough and the hypochondriac decides to visit a doctor, have recommended leaving the diagnosis “in their hands.” “No matter how much Medicine you know, you have to delegate it to them. In the end, we are still not professionals and we have to avoid thinking about whether we have been diagnosed correctly or not. He is a person who, surely, has been doing it all his life and we have to stay calm with what it tells us”, they concluded.

Although it may contain statements, data or notes from health institutions or professionals, the information contained in Medical Writing is edited and prepared by journalists. We recommend the reader that any health-related questions be consulted with a healthcare professional.

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