Sydney Naturopath John D. McGuire on IBS and Psychosomatic Illness

It has been suggested that IBS is a psychosomatic illness; although the evidence for this appears to be equivocal, IBS patients have been found to have significantly higher scores on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). From a study conducted at the Centre for Stress and Anxiety Disorders (the University at Albany ), IBS patients successfully treated with cognitive and behavioural procedures showed significant reductions in both BDI and STAI scores.