The worst diagnosis to hear
Unfortunately, when doctors can’t find any medical cause for your IBS, they may be tempted to dismiss IBS as an imaginary illness or “all in your head.” This is beyond frustrating if you suffer from IBS because you know that your symptoms are real. Few doctors actually say the words “Your IBS is in your head,” but you can hear that loud and clear when the doctor doesn’t prescribe any medicine and suggest that you try relaxing or cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
What the doctor sees
Most doctors don’t fully understand what causes IBS, which is understandable because, until recently, researcher has not given many clues. IBS is not a disease caused by a virus or bacteria, so a doctor can’t prescribe antibiotics or antivirals. Once the doctor rules out the usual suspects: food poisoning, cancer, bleeding ulcers, allergies and rare diseases, they’re left with IBS. IBS is kind of a catch-all for unexplained digestive troubles. So the doctor can’t really intervene medically, except to test for allergies (which is a good idea), or give you medications for diarrhea, cramps, constipation and so on. They can also advise you to avoid trigger foods, which of course you’re already doing.
Why is it so frustrating?
Why does the idea that it might be “in your head” make you so angry? Simply put, it implies that you are not really suffering. You’re just a hypochondriac. It’s like saying that your symptoms aren’t real, or worse, made up. It also means that you aren’t going to get much help from your visit to the doctor, which has cost you money and time.
You clearly did not make your symptoms up. A doctor can measure diarrhea, gas, constipation, and cramps. There is no disputing that. That doesn’t mean, however, that the brain has nothing to do with IBS.
One thing that research is very clear on, is that the gut and the brain are inextricably connected. They are connected through the nervous system, the endocrine system, and the immune system. That connection – known as the gut-brain axis, sends signals both ways. Things that happen in the gut can affect the brain and things that happen in the brain can affect the gut. We feel emotions in the gut. Someone tells you that you have to give a speech at the wedding and you get a queasy feeling in your stomach, immediately. That is the gut-brain axis in action.
All symptoms are real
That the brain is involved does not make your symptoms less real. Our brains can literally make us sick and give us pain, real pain. In fact, all pain is created and experienced in the brain (but that is another story). Certain unconscious thought patterns disrupt gut-brain communication and cause the gut to do all kinds of crazy things.
This is not hypochondria, nor is it weak-mindedness or self-inflicted misery. It is simply a situation you landed in, through a series of events, some physical and some emotional. It may have started with food poisoning or surgery or an illness or a trauma. But stress and worry, anger and fear keep IBS going long after the original cause is gone. And IBS itself is a great generator of stress, worry, anger and fear, as anybody with IBS knows.
Fight or flight
When confronted with danger, the body goes into fight or flight or freeze mode. The sympathetic nervous system gets ready to react. It pumps the body with adrenaline and cortisol. It moves blood to the muscles and shuts down the digestive system. The trouble is that the brain can’t differentiate imagined danger from real danger. Stress and worry, even if it is unconscious, can keep jumping the body into danger mode, and the digestive system pays the price. The body is trying to keep you safe, but the effects can be devastating. You are not making them up
The head and body
IBS is not “in your head” and anybody that tells you that is wrong and insensitive. But the solution is also not just in the body. The gut-brain axis goes in both directions. Your body is telling the brain that something is wrong. Your brain is telling the body that something is wrong. Each is feeding off the other. Only when we stop this shouting match, by deeply relaxing the body and the mind, will IBS disappear. For personal help with this issue, check out shawnrobertsonhypnosis.com