Hypochondriasis refers to worry about having a serious illness, also known as health phobia or illness anxiety disorder. In hypochondriasis, the patient doubts and distrusts the doctors’ diagnosis, and a doctor’s reassurance about their complete medical evaluation is unconvincing.

The piece depicts the patients’ feelings such as fear, anxiety and disbelief. The rhythmic and thematic (including specific pitch sets) materials represent this emotional complexity in the context of “doctor shopping.” Many short musical gestures are agitated, fugitive, and aggressive, yet they are also emotional, expressive and dramatic. These active motions seek a solution. Each of the six short movements contains their own motivic ideas, but are always unified to a central point. A certain pitch, such as D#, represents the positive desire of the mind.