HYPOCHONDRIASIS, HYPOCHONDRIACAL DELUSION AND CENESTHETIC PSYCHOSIS

Differential diagnosis of hypochondriacal syndromes represents a commo n diagnostic problem in psychiatric practice. According to modern clas sification systems (ICD-10, DSM-IV), hypochondriacal states can occur independently (primary hypochondria) or in the context of a variety of mental disorders (secondary hypochondria). In the group of primary hy pochondria, delusional disorder of somatic type and cenesthetic psycho sis are frequently misdiagnosed as hypochondriacal or neurotic disorde rs. Since different therapeutical implications arise from the precise differential diagnosis of hypochondriacal syndromes, a careful psychia tric assessment is necessary in these cases.