title: [Clinico-diagnostic criteria of hypochondriac syndromes].
abstract: The aim of this study was to examine the vast field of hypochondriac symptoms and to put forward diagnostic criteria following the analysis of recent studies on this topic. The "descriptions" based on DSM III trace a partial and selective picture of hypochondriac disorders which is only applicable to a small group of patients in which "somatic complaints" are emphasised in comparison to other less evident psychological variables. The symptom therefore becomes a sign of a pathology which is not defined according to the same complex of symptoms from which it arose. There is in fact no nosological model of hypochondria: we are only likely to meet a "potential hypochondriac" whose pathological expression is limited to part of the population.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Psichiatria, Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza, Roma.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Conte
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Corradi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gaston
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D006998:Hypochondriasis / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology
vernacular_title: Criteri clinico-diagnostici delle sindromi ipocondriache.