GI Psychology

GI psychology is one part of an integrated care approach to treating GI disorders.

image credit: Chey et al. (2021)

1 | Medical Management
2 | Diet & Nutrition
3 | GI Psychology

Finding the right medication or a change of diet helps many people. For many others though, this is either not enough or there is a desire for more natural or medication-free options. This is where the information and tools of GI psychology can be helpful for some people.

The field of psycho-gastroenterology (or GI psychology for short) is used in the best medical centers in the world to help patients learn effective skills to cope better and, likely, improve their symptoms.

The Gut-Brain Connection

The brain & the digestive system are highly connected.  This connection is called the gut-brain axis, or gut-brain connection.  

In medicine, the digestive tract, from the esophagus to the anus, is often called the gut for short.

For any chronic health condition, stress is a significant factor but for a GI disorder, stress is even more important.  The GI system is highly affected by stress because of this gut-brain connection.  So while stress does not cause GI disorders, it is a major factor in what keeps them going.  It’s also, thankfully, one area that you have some control over.

Signs Mind-Body Tools Could Help You

Research has shown that there are some particular struggles that mind-body tools are best equipped to help with.  Here’s a short ‘quiz’ to see if the mind-body tools of GI psych would likely help you.

 

GI-Specific Anxiety:

  • Do you worry excessively about your GI symptoms?
  • Does fear or worry about your symptoms get in the way of you living your life?
  • Are you overly attentive or sensitive to bodily sensations in your GI tract?

 

Stress Management:

  • Do you find it difficult to relax or calm down when stressed?
  • Do you often feel overwhelmed?
  • Do you rely on avoidance or distraction in order to cope with stress?

 

Persistent Stress Response:

  • Do you often feel “on edge” or need a long time to calm down after becoming stressed?
  • Are your muscles frequently tense, or do you have trouble relaxing physically?
  • Do you often experience symptoms like a racing heart, cold sweats, or tremors in stressful situations?

 

Scoring: 

If you answered ‘yes‘ to a majority of the questions within the same category the mind-body tools of GI psych could be helpful for you.

 

Other situations:

  1. If chronic pain is a part of your health struggles & it’s getting in the way of your life
  2. If you struggle with depression or a different form of anxiety than what’s highlighted above
  3. If you’ve had trauma or abuse in your life & emotions are hard to control and/or relationships are difficult to manage

 

Brain-Gut Behavioral Therapies

Gut-Focused Psychotherapy

There are specific forms of therapy that are effective for depression & anxiety that have been adapted to address the specific challenges of GI disorders.

Find Out More

Gut-Directed Hypnotherapy

There’s a type of research-backed hypnotherapy specifically for people with chronic GI disorders. 

Find Out More

Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness is another research-backed tool that can be helpful for effectively addressing underlying mind-body factors.

Find Out More

Resources for Learning More

Understanding the Gut-Brain Connection

A free video series created for anyone with a chronic GI condition who wants to understand more about GI psychology through these three core concepts:

   1 | The Bio-Psycho-Social Model

   2 | The Autonomic Nervous System

   3 | The Window of Tolerance

GI-Specific Anxiety

More information on a common type of anxiety that makes GI problems worse.  It often goes unseen & untreated.

 

The Gut-Brain Connection

A brief introduction to the science of the gut-brain connection, an important topic for anyone with chronic digestive issues.

 

The 2 Types of Digestive Disorders

There are two main types of GI disorders, and knowing which you have is an important part of the healing puzzle.

 

GI OnDEMAND University

A great collection of information (webinars, videos, handouts) created & vetted by experts in the field.

 

The Rome Foundation Video Library is from the leading medical institution on DGBIs and GI psychology. 

 

A Note on Research

In the world of research in GI psychology, IBS is the most studied condition.  Even though other disorders of gut-brain interaction (DGBI) like dyspepsia & heartburn are common, only a small fraction of studies focused on the impact of gut-brain behavioral therapies on those conditions.  Those existing studies tend to show similar, very positive results, leading most to believe these gut-brain behavioral therapies are effective for almost any GI condition.  

There are fewer studies for organic diseases like IBD (Crohn’s, UC).  One reason for this is that DGBIs, like IBS, are more affected by the gut-brain connection than a more medically complicated disease like Crohn’s or UC.  This makes these tools more impactful and easier to study.  The studies that do exist though for organic diseases (e.g. IBD) are positive and show these are helpful tools.

Finally, there’s a large overlap between organic diseases & DGBIs.  About 40% of people with IBD also tend to have a DGBI, like IBS.  This is even more reason why mind-body tools are needed.

References