Life events and hypochondriacal concerns.

In a study of 165 employees of a retail firm, life events were associated with several hypochondriacal concerns and with most of the self-rating distress scales. Life events related to illness and death were associated with fear of disease and showed weak associations with somatic symptoms and anxiety. Life events unrelated to illness and death were associated with hypochondriacal beliefs, bodily preoccupations, fear of death, and most of the distress scales. Illness and death do not appear to be common recent precipitants of hypochondriacal concerns in a normal population. One of the reasons for the observed associations appears to be that preoccupation with illness and death can occur at times of distress, regardless of the nature of the recent stressful life events.