The gastrointestinal system and psychological factors

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Abstract
The practice of gastroenterology is largely a collaborative endeavour, with patient management frequently involving contributions from a physician, surgeon, radiologist and pathologist. Although psychiatry has not traditionally been regarded as part of the team, there has been a convergence of biomedical and psychosocial approaches to gastrointestinal disorders in recent years, and this has been associated with the emergence of the hybrid discipline ‘medical psychiatry’. The interface between psychiatry and gastroenterology in developing strategies for management of stress-related and refractory symptoms has become an important component of a more holistic approach to gastrointestinal disease. This has been paralleled by advances in basic sciences and understanding of the brain-gut axis in health and disease.