GENERALIZED ANXIETY DISORDER, WORRIES ABOUT ILLNESS, AND HYPOCHONDRIACAL FEARS AND BELIEFS

In order to compare hypochondriacal phenomena in patients with general ized anxiety disorder (GAD) and panic disorder (PD), and in order to e xamine the relationship between worries about illness on one hand, and disease fears/phobias and hypochondriacal beliefs on the other, the a uthors administered the Illness Attitudes Scales to patients with both GAD and PD, and determined the spheres of worry in patients with GAD. Patients with GAD were significantly less hypochondriacal than PD pat ients. A specific relationship between GAD and hypochondriasis was not found because worries about illness, which characterize some GAD pati ents, were largely independent from disease fears/phobias and hypochon driacal beliefs, which are a hallmark of hypochondriasis.