‘AIDS anxiety’

Preview

“AIDS anxiety,” which has been described in populations at increased risk for the acquired immune deficiency syndrome, can include not only symptoms of typical panic attacks but also a hypochondriacal conviction of the presence of undiagnosed AIDS. Dr Frolkis describes three patients—none at risk for AIDS—who sought medical attention because of an intense fear and unshakable certainty that they had the disease. In their nonspecific “functional” symptoms, somatic preoccupation, persistence in seeking a confirmatory diagnosis, and failure to find reassurance in normal physical and laboratory studies, they demonstrate many attributes of the somatoform disorders.