Psychological treatments of the irritable bowel syndrome: a review.
Open Access
- 1 November 1989
- Vol. 30 (11) , 1601-1609
- https://doi.org/10.1136/gut.30.11.1601
Abstract
Psychological treatments are increasingly being used to help patients with the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but the efficacy of such treatments is still debated. This review indicates that there are three ways in which they might have been effective in published studies to date; relating bowel symptoms to stress, specific help with psychosocial problems/relationships and relaxation to decrease anxiety and tension. A close doctor-patient relationship is regarded as central to these therapeutic tasks but the time required to maximise the effectiveness of this therapeutic role means that intensive psychological treatment should be reserved for those IBS patients who do not respond to first line standard medical treatment. There are insufficient data to indicate at present which patients are best suited to each form of psychological treatment.Keywords
This publication has 21 references indexed in Scilit:
- Functional abdominal pain, psychiatric illness, and life events.Gut, 1988
- Prediction of outcome from the self-regulatory treatment of irritable bowel syndromeBehaviour Research and Therapy, 1988
- Effects of desipramine on irritable bowel syndrome compared with atropine and placeboDigestive Diseases and Sciences, 1987
- Hypnotherapy in the irritable bowel syndromeStress Medicine, 1987
- The need for an increased number of consultant physicians with specialist training in gastroenterology.Gut, 1984
- The Effect of Trimipramine in Patients with the Irritable Bowel SyndromeScandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology, 1982
- The efficacy of group therapy for patients with irritable bowel syndromePsychosomatics, 1982
- Treatment of irritable bowel syndrome with lorazepam, hyoscine butylbromide, and ispaghula husk.BMJ, 1979
- Irritable colon and depressionPsychosomatics, 1978
- Evaluation of Combined Pharmacological and Psychotherapeutic Treatment in Patients with Functional Abdominal DisordersPsychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 1975