Psychological mechanisms in hypochondriasis: attention-induced physical symptoms without sensory stimulation

Attention and expectancy have, in previous research, been demonstrated to influence symptom reporting and these findings can be relevant for understanding hypochondriasis. Earlier attention/expectancy effects on symptom reporting were studied when subjects were physically stimulated by the experimenter. If attention or expectancy produced symptom reporting, which plays a role in hypochondriasis, one expects that attention/expectancy will also produce symptoms in the absence of any deliberate physical stimulation. Eighty healthy volunteers were allocated to one of four groups: attention, expectancy, attention plus expectancy or a control condition. Compared to the control condition there was much higher symptom reporting in the 3 experimental groups. The experimental groups did not differ. It is argued that the effects of expectancy are obtained via increased attention. The relevance of the findings for understanding hypochondriasis is discussed.