title: Hypochondriacal symptoms as derivatives of unconscious fantasies of being beaten or tortured.
abstract: Clinical material is presented from two patients where hypochondriacal symptoms were seen to be derivatives of unconscious fantasies of being beaten or tortured. The shift along the masochistic axis from these underlying fantasies to the conscious hypochondriacal symptoms is seen as subserving the important defensive purpose of reducing the patients' perception of their conscious guilt feelings.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D005201:Fantasy; D005260:Female; D006167:Guilt; D006801:Humans; D006998:Hypochondriasis / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008398:Masochism; D008875:Middle Aged; D011574:Psychoanalytic Theory; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy; D014473:Unconscious, Psychology