On two cases of circumscribed hypochondriasis.

Two cases of circumscribed hypochondriasis were reported. Although the syndrome did not seem so rare, these cases were worthy of reporting in the following sense. In spite of the general opinion that the syndrome appeared in the middle age, the onset in our patients was in the young adult age, namely one at 25 and the other at 35, respectively. While the course of the syndrome is said to be chronic, our patients indicated a fairly favorable prognosis. The psychodynamics of the syndrome in our cases was discussed chiefly from the psychoanalytic point of view, and finally the similarity among the related syndromes was considered.