In addition to weight loss, one of the more frequent comments that you might get about your IBD is about stress. That your IBD could be caused by stress or that if you had less stress or dealt with stress more effectively your IBD might calm down. You don't often hear people say that other chronic illnesses are caused by stress, so where does this strong association between IBD and stress come from? Well, it goes back a little ways, and has to do with some less-than stellar research that was done several years ago.
I myself have heard the "stress" line more than once, and from several different people, including some in the medical field. Like many of us I developed IBD when I was a teenager -- 16 years old. I had a pretty typical childhood, there wasn't a significant amount of stress by any means, just the normal stuff. So, how could anyone legitimately blame my IBD on stress?
I asked my Twitter followers recently about the comments they've heard about "stress" in connection to their IBD, and I got some great responses. You can read a few of them here, along with my advice on how you can handle comments about stress.
Read more about stress:
- Responding To Comments About Stress
- Does Stress Cause Inflammatory Bowel Disease?
- Tools To Manage Stress
- Do Most People With IBD Have A Mental Disorder?
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