IBS: Managing the emotional side

Doctors regularly talk to patients about the mind-body crossover, where physical and mental health are intricately linked, and you can’t treat one without the other. IBS can often go hand-in-hand with anxiety, depression, and other psychological conditions – it's sometimes unclear which comes first.

Even without a formally diagnosed mental health condition, the toll IBS symptoms can take on daily living can impact your quality of life, affecting relationships, and possibly forcing you to take time off work. In the face of this, mood can plummet, and that, in turn, makes the symptoms worse.

If you have any mental health conditions diagnosed alongside IBS, it’s a good idea to check in with your doctor or mental health team to make sure these are addressed, as this will also help your IBS.

IBS is a condition that’s affected by stress, causing a new flare-up or existing symptoms to become worse. If you feel you would like to explore self-help options, try breathing techniques, mindfulness and meditation, and controlling external factors where possible, and determine what works for you.

Sometimes life throws us situations that we aren’t able to control, and we may need to consider other ways to help ourselves. There’s evidence that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) tailored to IBS sufferers can have specific benefits: a study by Kings College London and the University of Southampton found this to be significantly more effective than standard treatment such as medications.

Even if your area doesn’t offer specific IBS-centered CBT, standard CBT, and other talking therapies can be a good resource to equip you with the tools to manage stress, anxiety, and low mood. This will help manage triggers for IBS and the psychological fallout of having a long-term physical condition.

There’s evidence that increasing exercise levels can have positive long-term effects on IBS symptoms. Burning off excess stress hormones and releasing feel-good endorphins help boost mental health, too. The general rules of eating well, sleeping well, and moving well are good simplistic principles for healthy living.

If you are in the midst of a nasty flare-up, now is not the time to go for a run. But over a period of ten or twelve weeks, introducing regular gentle exercise two or three times a week is a good place to start, and you build frequency and intensity from there. Explore for yourself whether this improves your physical and mental health – a diary might work for you, if you want to chart your progress.

Mental health is something that varies day-to-day, and even hour-to-hour. So many factors influence it. If the symptoms of chronic illness or effects of IBS are leading to a severe worsening of your mental health, these are some things that would require a more urgent discussion with your doctor.

If you are having any thoughts of self-harm or suicide, your doctor would want to know. If it is outside of office hours, you can find a safe place and support at your local emergency department. If things are getting desperate, don’t go through this alone. Family and friends are a good starting point, but if you need some professional input, then be sure to reach out.