More than one of every ten Hong Kong adults is a hypochondriac who wrongly believes he or she is suffering from a serious illness, a survey released Monday showed。
星期一发布的一份调查显示，每十个香港成年人中，至少有一个认为他们得了疑病症，而且这些人强烈认为自己得了非常严重的疾病。
Researchers at the Chinese University estimated that 570,000, or 11 percent of all adults, suffer from some form of hypochondria or chronic abnormal anxiety。
(香港)中文大学的研究者们估计，(香港)有57万成年人，也就是11%的成年人正在受某种疑病症或慢性焦虑紊乱症的困扰。
Sufferers get trapped in a "vicious spiral" in which anxiety over their imagined illnesses makes them unable to cope with normal work and office situations, researchers said。
研究人员表示，陷入“恶性循环”的患者表现出对想象出来的疾病过度的焦虑，以至于不能进行正常工作以及适应办公室环境。
Adults aged 45 to 54 are the most prone to hypochondria, and about a third of hypochondriacs suffer sleeping problems and 27 percent suffer fatigue, the survey of 3,000 people found。
报告对3000名成年人进行调查，结果显示，年龄在45岁到54岁之间的成年人更容易患疑病症；大约有三分之一疑病症患者有睡眠问题，27%的人患有疲劳症。
Some hypochondriacs take their imagined symptoms from one doctor to another to try to confirm their beliefs that they are suffering from serious illnesses, such as cancer, researchers said。
研究人员说，一些疑病症患者将自己想象出来的病症告诉很多个医生，想以此证明他们患有严重的疾病，如癌症。
"Hypochondriacal behaviour can cause significant disturbance to daily life," said professor Lee Sing, director of the university's Mood Disorders Centre, which conducted the survey，"Doctors should establish a supportive relationship with (patients) and help them reduce unnecessary check-ups and 'doctor-shopping'."
报告的调查者，大学情绪障碍中心主任李星(音译)教授说：“疑病症行为会给患者日常生活带来巨大的困扰。所以，医生们应该与病人建立支持的关系，帮助他们减少不必要的检查和 ‘走马观花式看病’”。
