In hypochondria (also known as health anxiety or illness anxiety disorder), you will have recurrent, intrusive thoughts of having a serious medical illness, despite medical doctors and medical tests stating the contrary. Having recurrent, intrusive thoughts also describes the obsessions seen in obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
However, if you have the thoughts of having a medical illness based on misinterpreting physical symptoms, then you have hypochondria. But if you also have rituals such as excessive checking behaviors or excessive washing related to having an illness or spreading it to others, then an additional diagnosis of OCD may be made in addition to hypochondria.
