How can stress and anxiety worsen irritable bowel syndrome symptoms?

Posted by Master, Doctor Mai Vien Phuong - Department of Examination & Internal Medicine - Vinmec Central Park International General Hospital

3% - 20% of Americans experience symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). This condition affects women more than men. Some people with irritable bowel syndrome have minor symptoms. For others, however, the symptoms are significant and disrupt daily life.

Irritable bowel syndrome is also known as spastic colon, irritable colon, mucous colitis, and spastic colitis. This is a separate condition from inflammatory bowel disease and is not related to other bowel conditions. Irritable bowel syndrome is a group of intestinal symptoms that often occur together. Symptoms vary in severity and duration from person to person. However, they last for at least three months for at least three days per month.
Irritable bowel syndrome can cause intestinal damage in some cases. However, that is not common.
Irritable bowel syndrome does not increase your risk of gastrointestinal cancer, but it can still significantly affect your life

Which comes first - irritable bowel syndrome or anxiety? Each is known to trigger the other. Stress and anxiety are your body's response to danger. But today's challenges with work, school, and relationship responsibilities mean that these emotional states have become more common. If you have irritable bowel syndrome, stress and anxiety can dominate your life.
There is no definitive cure for irritable bowel syndrome. But there are ways you can reduce the stress in your life, which can help ease your irritable bowel syndrome symptoms.

Together, the brain and the nerves that control your body are called the central nervous system. The system works on internal controls that appear to run on autopilot. It is usually divided into two parts: the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Some classifications have a third part, the enteric nervous system, that controls most of the digestive system's functioning.

The sympathetic and parasympathetic systems often work in tandem. The parasympathetic system is called the “rest and digest” system. It controls bodily functions such as urination, defecation, digestion, tear secretion and saliva production - in short, many of the functions your body performs during activities of daily living. .
The sympathetic nervous system is your "fight or flight" side. Stress and anxiety activate this system. They set off a chain reaction that releases hormones that increase your heart rate, pump more blood to your muscles, and slow or even stop the digestive processes in your stomach.
According to an article published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology, having irritable bowel syndrome leads to a disturbance in the balance between your brain and gut. As a result, sometimes stress and anxiety trigger your gut to be overactive. This causes the diarrhea and upset stomach that people with irritable bowel syndrome are well aware of. In others, their brain signals are underactive and their gut may slow down, leading to constipation, bloating, and abdominal discomfort.

The body's goal is to maintain homeostasis, or a steady state. After a stress response, fluctuating hormones mean a return to normal levels. However, when people suffer from chronic stress and anxiety, their bodies cannot achieve homeostasis. This usually happens when a person has irritable bowel syndrome.
Stress can wreak havoc on your gut. It causes the release of many hormones, including corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF). This hormone is involved in the healthy bacteria of the gut, which helps maintain bowel function. Additional CRF also triggers your body's immune response. While that sounds like a good thing, immune activity can have side effects, as is the case with a person having a strong allergic reaction to a healthy food.
Chronic stress can throw your gut bacteria out of balance, a condition known as dysbiosis. According to an article in the World Journal of Gastroenterology, stress-induced dysbiosis can play an important role in a person developing irritable bowel syndrome.
How stress can worsen irritable bowel syndrome
An estimated 40 - 60% of people with irritable bowel syndrome have a mental disorder, such as anxiety or depression. Stress and major life traumas, such as a breakup, loss of a close family member or a runaway family member, have all been known to worsen symptoms associated with related to irritable bowel syndrome.
Stress can have the following effects on irritable bowel syndrome :
Decreases blood flow in the intestines Increases intestinal permeability Activates your immune system Causes your immune system to become inflamed All changes This change can greatly affect the irritable bowel syndrome system. And for someone with a lot of stress in their life, symptoms can become severe.

Some people know the source of their stress, while others have a hard time recognizing it. One of the ways to start treating your stress and its connection to irritable bowel syndrome is to keep a journal.
In this diary you can write about the activities of the day and the status of your symptoms. No detail is too small. Abdominal pain, constipation, and bloating are all symptoms that you can link back to the worsening of irritable bowel syndrome. You may have to keep a journal for a while – major life events and stressors can flare up a few weeks or months later.
Once you've identified the stressors in your life, you can take steps to eliminate them and teach yourself to deal with the stress these situations can create.
Here are some tips for dealing with stress to reduce irritable bowel syndrome :
Do a stress-relieving exercise, such as meditation or yoga. Through learning to breathe deeply and focus your thoughts, you can better handle stress. Try to get at least seven to eight hours of sleep each night. Getting plenty of sleep can give you the energy you need to get through the day. Going to bed on time, avoiding electronic devices in bed, and keeping the bedroom cool and dark can all promote better sleep. Seek professional help from a psychologist. While it can be difficult to talk about your IBS symptoms with others, a psychiatrist can help you learn skills to manage stress. For example, they can help you learn cognitive-behavioral techniques to identify stress. Join an irritable bowel syndrome support group. Social support from others can be a key factor in managing stress and managing irritable bowel syndrome symptoms. Try complementary medicine techniques like acupuncture, massage, or reiki. These have helped some people with irritable bowel syndrome reduce their symptoms. Continue journaling as a means to determine how your stress management methods are improving and, ideally, how your symptoms are in remission. Although stress can be a contributing factor to irritable bowel syndrome, it is often not the only factor. Focusing on stress reduction, as well as taking medication and managing your diet to reduce your risk of triggering symptoms, can help you relieve IBS symptoms whenever possible. .

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References
Lee, S., Wu, J., Ma, Y. L., Tsang, A., Guo, W. J., & Sung, J. (2009, September 15). Irritable bowel syndrome is strong associated with generalized anxiety disorder: A community study [Abstract]. Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics , 30 (6), 643-651 ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19552631 Mayo Clinic Staff. (2014, July 31). Irritable bowel syndrome: Causes mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/irritable-bowel-syndrome/basics/causes/con-20024578 Popa, S.-L., & Dumitrascu, D. L. (2015, July). Anxiety and irritable bowel syndrome revisited: Ten years later. Clujul Medical . 88 (3), 253-257 ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4632879/ Qin, H.-Y., Cheng, C.-W., Tang, X.-D., & Bian, Z .-X. (2014, October 21). Impact of psychological stress on irritable bowel syndrome. World Journal of Gastroenterology: WJG, 20 (39), 14126-14131 ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4202343/ Singh, P., Agnihotri, A., Pathak, M. K., Shirazi, A., Tiwari, R. P., Sreenivas, V., ... Makharia, G. K. (2012, July). Psychiatric, somatic, and other functional gastrointestinal disorders in patients with irritable bowel syndrome at a tertiary care center. Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility, 18 (3), 324-331 ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4202343/