It  should,  however,  be  remembered  that  there  is  a  difference  between  the
popular  and  the  medical  use  of  the  word.  To  the  public,  the  name  is
chiefly  associated  with  the  simulation  of  symptoms,  or  at  least  with  the  idea
that  the  patient  could  prevent  the  symptoms  if  she  liked.  But  in  medicine
it  is  now  generally  recognized  that  the  malady  is  a  real  one,  occasionally  of
great  severity,  and  to  a  large  extent  beyond  the  direct  influence  of  the
patient's  will.  It  should  also  be  remarked  that  the  word  is  applied  more
widely  to  women  than  to  men ;  the  same  conditions  are  often  termed
"  hysteria  "  in  the  former,  and  "  hypochondriasis  "  in  the  latter.
