10 Ways Talk Therapy Can Help Crohn's and Colitis
Release anxiety
Releasing anxiety, like relieving stress and depression, is integral to helping the gut. Many with Crohn's and colitis experience anxiety due to their need to frequently use a restroom and adjust to a changed life due to their condition. Around 20% of those living with inflammatory bowel disease have stated that they experience anxiety for extended periods of time and when the disease flares, this rate skyrockets to around 60%, or higher.
Again, those with preexisting anxiety are more likely to develop bowel disorders, resulting in talk-therapy being a viable act of prevention.
Like depression, a recent large study has shown that there is a strong association between experiencing anxiety and disease activity over time, meaning that anxiety heightens the symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease. To help these symptoms, talk therapy may decrease anxiety and, in turn, the symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease.
