The author hypothesizes that hypochondria mostly tends to prevent suicide. He argues that suicide implies destruction of the body. This being the case, the hypochondriac who feels himself threatened by a serious disease does not need to bring about the destruction of his own body. The feared hypochondrical threat & the wished suicidal threat are viewed as the opposites of each other. Only when hypochondriac fear charnges into paranoid certainty will suicide ensue. (5 refs.)