A BODY MADE OF GLASS

An up-to-date study of hypochondria, which has been around for centuries but has become more widespread in the digital age.

In her adolescent years, Crampton, author of The Way to the Sea, had a serious encounter with blood cancer. After grueling treatment, she recovered, but the experience left her with hypochondria, the elusive and exhausting feeling that every minor pain or change in her body was a sign of approaching disaster. This book is her attempt to understand the condition. As she embarked on her research, the author discovered that the condition is surprisingly common. At the most intense end of the scale are people whose lives have become severely limited, to the point that they will hardly leave their rooms for fear of contagion. At another level are those who will try any potion or procedure to cure an ailment that is entirely imaginary. Some hypochondriacs will begin to believe they have an illness because they have read about it or seen a documentary on it. The internet has been a major contributor to this phenomenon, writes the author. A “cyberchondriac,” she notes, “gets trapped in a never-ending spiral of increasingly doom-laden internet searches.” The rise of social media has seen the proliferation of so-called wellness specialists, who provide a remedy for whatever it is a person with a credit card thinks they have. As Crampton shows, there are serious attempts to treat hypochondria underway, and methods related to treatment for PTSD show promise. However, a real understanding of the condition is a long way off. As for herself, Crampton believes that writing the book provided valuable perspective and insight into her own struggles. “I am ill and I am well,” she concludes. “I am still here.”

Poetic and personal, this book reveals a condition that is debilitating and often hidden.