My SO's kids, SD14 and SD11 are not quite hypochondriacs but crazy neurotic. They are convinced that every plane they are on will have a terrorist take over, when they are in California this week they will die in an earthquake, every storm is a life ending hurricane, etc. SD14 sneaks downstairs after we go to bed EVERY NIGHT and shuts every set of blinds and shutters and double checks all the locks....she is convinced a robber is going to come in and attack us. I know it is her because we have a security cam in the kitchen that can see all doors and it has night vision; I get the alert on my phone when there is movement downstairs.

They are very sweet girls, but the neuroses drive my crazy! Unfortunately for them, I have a degree in Actuarial Science (think Along Came Polly with Ben Stiller) and work in insurance. I bore them to death with the odds to make them get over it.

Oh, you think a terrorist is going to take over a puddle jumper plane flying to New Hampshire? A plane that small likely wouldn't be large enough to do significant damage to whatever they're after, plus it is a lot harder to "hide" your intentions at such a small airport where everyone can notice you. A terrorist would want to "blend with the crowd" at a large, busy, diverse airport.

Earthquake? While the likelihood of a small scale earthquake is fairly decent, the odds of a major scale earthquake causing serious injury and damage, especially in the well-built and to code new hotel you are staying in is highly unlikely. Hurricanes don't hit the west coast so try again.

Statistically, robbers case a house before attempting to break in. The fact that I work from home (most days) makes it incredibly unlikely that someone would break in. That and our two LOUD dogs (one huge) are a huge deterrent. The fact that there are also 2 cars in the driveway, lights on timer, a security system and cameras make the odds near 0.

Tell your hypochondriac that the wait time at the ER is about 6 hours. You can't stay with her, but you can drop her off to wait alone. One time doing that and she will pipe down!

My SD is similar, and she's only 7. She always thinks she getting sick (fake cough), or she had a headache. Or she broke her leg (a little bruise).

Plus, she is afraid of everything. She's terrified of bugs (screams, won't even go outside sometimes), she's afraid of Elmo (literally ridiculous. she acts like a lunatic whenever BS3 plays with his Elmo toys), and not all of a sudden she is afraid of my cat... who we've had for the entire 5 years I've been in her life, has never clawed her or bit her (and actually likes her). She says she's afraid because he *might* do it...

All I can guess is that it relates to either attention or her situation before I was with DW.