By Alan Mozes
NEW YORK, Feb 02 (Reuters Health) -- Women who have irritable bowel
syndrome -- a condition characterized by abdominal pain, bloating and diarrhea
-- are more likely than other women to have been emotionally abused as adults,
according to Canadian researchers.
In a new study, 25 women with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) -- a
condition in which no underlying physical cause is found to explain symptoms --
were compared with 25 women with inflammatory bowel disease, a condition with
similar symptoms due to ulceration and inflammation of the digestive tract. The
women were aged 19 to 53, mostly white and shared similar income, educational,
and religious backgrounds.
The investigators found that women with IBS scored higher on tests of
emotional abuse, defined as "being threatened verbally, being personally
insulted or put down, being denied personal or economic independence, or being
deliberately humiliated or degraded in public," according to the report in the
January/February issue of Psychosomatic Medicine.
The researchers also found that the IBS patients had higher levels of
self-silencing, which is muting certain thoughts, feelings and actions to avoid
disturbing the safety of relationships. They were also more likely to engage in
self-blame, which is taking on responsibility for negative events.
The psychological stress associated with the inhibition of self-expression
and the feelings of self-blame may be related to the physical manifestations of
the disorder, the authors speculate.
However, research in this area is new and the investigators were not able
to say conclusively that a particular emotional state of mind actually causes
IBS, said lead author Dr. Alisha Ali, a post-doctoral fellow at The Center for
Addiction and Mental Health at the University of Toronto, Canada, in an
interview with Reuters Health. It is important to explore the psychological
avenues that may lead to IBS, Ali noted.
The disorder is a "much more common condition than people realize," she
said. "It's the second most common reason for absenteeism in the workplace,
second only to the common cold. But there's a stigma associated with it, so
women don't talk about it."
Exploring possible psychological factors that could contribute to the
disorder may hopefully relieve women of some of the pressures and stereotypes
that come with IBS, she said.
"I think one positive thing would be that these findings might encourage
women to find a physician they feel comfortable talking to, and explore issues
that are beyond biology alone, and by that I mean the sort of perspective that
we have used here in our research," Ali said. "Looking at biological and social
and psychological factors -- it's a more holistic model, and that model can be
used by the patient and her practitioner in trying to understand her particular
experience of IBS."
