The author proposes that we look at the origin of the phobic symptom before it is formed – in other words, at anxiety. The notion of anxiety hysteria is revisited and studied in its relation to anxiety neurosis. The case of a 14-year-old adolescent boy illustrates the moment when anxiety neurosis does not find resolution in phobia, and the author details the reasons why in this case leads to a hypochondriac solution instead.

Adolescence, 2026, 44, 2, 335-345.