How To Handle A Hypochondriac Senior
When an illness isn’t real, the hypochondria might be.
No doubt, as we age, our body doesn’t quite work as well as it once did. We feel aches and pains, and may suffer from serious medical conditions. However, sometimes it’s all in the mind, and seniors are particularly prone to hypochondria. In certain cases the hypochondria is severe, causing great anxiety. Other times it’s mild and causes more irritation to the caregiver than the senior.
What is hypochondria?
What can caregivers do to handle the constant complaining and senior worry?
Hypochondriasis also known as hypochondria, health phobia, health anxiety or illness anxiety disorder, refers to worry about having a serious illness. This debilitating condition is the result of an inaccurate perception of the condition of body or mind despite the absence of an actual medical condition. An individual suffering from hypochondriasis is known as a hypochondriac. Hypochondriacs become unduly alarmed about any physical or psychological symptoms they detect, no matter how minor the symptom may be, and are convinced that they have, or are about to be diagnosed with, a serious illness.
Hypochondria causes significant anxiety that goes on for months or longer, even though there’s no clear medical evidence that a serious health problem exists. While having some anxiety about one’s own health is normal, full-blown hypochondria is so consuming that it causes problems with work, relationships or other areas of life. Severe hypochondria can be completely disabling. That is, it’s a real condition that should not be dismissed lightly. Through understanding, and learning the possible reasons why the elderly may suffer from hypochondria, caregivers can learn to better handle hypochondriac seniors.
According to a paper published by the University of California Press, a representative article entitled Hypochondriasis and the Elderly states “One cannot work in the field of geriatrics without becoming aware of the large number of patients labelled hypochondriacs.” According to another paper, “hypochondria is probably the next most frequent functional psychiatric disorder in the later years, behind depressive and paranoid reactions. It is substantially more frequent among older women than men and it seems to increase in frequency with advancing age.”
Complaints of ill health among the elderly may be divided into three categories. Most common are complaints centering on the discomforts and restrictions of physical decline, or, in hospital jargon, “the dwindles.” Second are physical complaints that mask social problems—primarily a drop in real income, increasing isolation, and the loss of status. Getting sick frequently seems to be the only way some elderly individuals can get sympathy and support from their relatives, neighbors, and doctors. Third are physical complaints that mask psychosocial problems, and, as with younger persons, this is where most hypochondria among the elderly is found. (There is a curious variation within this category in which anxious middle-aged children project their own hypochondriacal concerns onto their elderly parents. “Father must not go out for fear of bronchitis, he must not smoke because it is bad for his heart, he must not play bridge in the evening because it interferes with his sleep, and so forth.”
With complaints of ill health being used to express dissatisfaction with physical, social, and emotional conditions and with the elderly being particularly vulnerable in each of these areas, it’s no wonder that a flood of physical complaints pours from the aged. Most refer to actual infirmities, but certainly a portion can be attributed to hypochondria. It’s probably safe to assume that there’s an increase in the incidence of this disorder with advancing age, not only because illness is such an effective way of getting care but also because illness is considered a more legitimate expression of frustration for old people than wife-beating, delinquency, and even alcoholism. Especially for men, age narrows the selection of acceptable revenges and defenses.
Although hypochondria is a long-term condition, a person doesn’t have to live their life constantly worrying about their health. A few suggested ways to handle a hypochondriac may seem obvious, such as, “have patience”, “don’t dismiss the complaint. The illness might be real”, and “take the senior to a doctor for an exam to ease the anxiety with a clean bill of health.” But you could also look beyond the complaint and ask yourself why the senior is calling out for sympathy. Maybe they’re lonely. Maybe they’re depressed or angry. The cure in such cases might be simply to provide company to keep the senior from being lonely, for example. Or maybe their doctor will prescribe ant-depression or anti-anxiety medicine or cognitive-behavior therapy with a psychologist. That may help as well. But most importantly, never stop listening. Eventually, everyone—hypochondriacs included—has some type of health problem.
The better you know your senior loved one, the better you can respond.
BLOG Date: Thursday, July 2, 2015
Writer: Ryan Allen