Hypochondria: In Sickness and in Story - Hardcover

by Susannah B. Mintz (Author)

Reimagines health anxiety not as pathology, but as a creative possibility.

Hypochondria proposes a bold reimagining of a frequently dismissed condition. Susannah B. Mintz reframes health anxiety not as a pathology but as a site of creative potential--exploring hypochondria as a form of communication, a reorientation to time, a convergence of personal and communal identity, a declaration of body-mind needs, and an embrace of aging's transformations. Far-ranging in its attention to historical periods, national literatures, philosophical thought, and medical discourse, the book challenges the containment of suffering within narratives of professional authority. In doing so, it seeks to dispel shame and stigma, opening space for new forms of connection and understanding through a deeper attentiveness to the experience of illness.

Author Biography

Susannah B. Mintz is professor of English at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York. Her books include Hurt and Pain: Literature and the Suffering Body, The Disabled Detective, and the memoir Love Affair in the Garden of Milton.