The essay traces the history of the concept of imaginary sickness in the 17th and 18th centuries. It argues for a history of discourses in a strong sense and strives to complement the history of the concept of hypochondria with an analysis of literary texts. The example of comedy is used to show a poetical knowledge of the genre in the case of hypochondria. Some German comedies of the early enlightenment period (by T. Quistorp, C. Gellert, and L. Gottsched) are presenting hypochondriacs as comedy-types. They thus continue the tradition of Molière’s medical comedies, but introduce major changes to the discourse, namely by pre- senting female hypochondriac characters. The potential of the genre of comedy to contribute to this discourse lies in its possibilities to highlight the social, performative and gender aspects of hypochondria, the notorious exaggeration and simulation of symptoms, deceit, and suspect, as well as performances of healing and catharsis through laughter and dance. The article situates these ›practices of imagination‹ within a wider history of the concepts of melancholy and hysteria.