Believe my brother is a hypochondriac

I am pretty sure my brother is a hypochondriac. Where he got it I don't know. I was wondering how a person like that is handled? I know he would never believe it is in his head. How do people realize they are hypochondriacs, and what treatment is done for this disorder?

As a bit of history, he is 18. He seemed to start doing this around 14-15. He is ALWAYS sick. Everytime I visit he has a headache and takes a lot of aspirins. He complains about his stomach a lot. He is always sleeping. I believe he has depression, which matches some of these symptoms. His depression does not seem very severe but I am sure it is there.

My brother recently said he needed his wisdom teeth removed because he could feel them cutting into his mouth. He siad there was no pain but he could tell. The dentist of course agreed with him, as all dentists seem to push for the wisdom teeth to be removed, so they removed all four of them in one day.

My brother started talking about his ribs 4 years ago, saying they bend weird. He says he cannot sleep at night because his ribs poke into his insides. He pushes on his ribs and they do move some but I think this could just be a flexibility issue. He also says something is wrong with his kneecaps, and they move too loose he says. They do seem to move loose when he does it but I take this to mean probably flexibility again? He says they hurt him sometimes.

He also always has a cold or the flu. I am not exaggerating when I say he is sick at least every other week for years.

Recently he told me that he has a nervous tremor that encompasses his body and that his entire body shakes constantly. I have never noticed anything, nor has anyone else. He stood there to show me but I could not see it. He says sometimes he cannot sleep at night because of the shaking.

He also said that he has trouble breathing and that he thinks there is something wrong with his lungs.It is true his lungs are a little weak but there should not be anything wrong with them, at least not to this extent at such an early age..

What causes all this to happen? What can be done? How is he going to be able to function if he thinks he is always ill? My parents dont seem to take this concern seriously, or see it as a real condition.

Heya,

I guess there could be a number of different causes to this. Firstly, he might subconsciously recognise that when he 'cries for help', he gets attention. This is the way babies behave (for obvious advantageous reasons), but I also believe that some people carry this right through to adulthood if it's not stopped by the parents. This is one possible cause.

Another possible cause is the anxiety / nervousness that you implied he has. If a person is in a constant state of anxiety, it IS possible that they are more aware of their body and pick-up even the slightest of pains that others would simply not recognise. Do you understand what I'm saying?

With regard to how to handle this, I suggest that you just start ignoring him whenever he begins to complain to you about a little problem that he has. Eventually, he will realise that he will get no sympathy from you at least.

Kevin

So ignoring it may be the best approach? Sounds like it may make sense, thanks.

Yes, through ignoring him, you would be starving him of his source of attention (i.e. - you). At 18 years of age, he really needs to start shaping-up to prepare for adulthood. He'll have to learn that someone will not always necessarily be there when he needs a 'shoulder to cry on'. It's harsh but that's what growing-up is partially about.