Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards

Sorry to be a party pooper, but I suspect most people at times suffer from stress and/or depression and /or family problems -- not just IBS people.

I, for one, am rarely ever depressed. I'm almost always happy (in spite of my IBS affliction). I may be a bit of a people pleaser (except when posting these contrary views!), but I am quite satisfied and happy with my life's decisions. In fact, I think of myself as extraordinarily lucky in all aspects -- especially in career and love.

In terms of what triggered my IBS, well who knows? From what I can tell (and from what my mother recalls), I was born with it. My mother has told me I had the symptoms as a baby. The only thing I will say is that I went through a very strained, stressful time with my parents during the mid-1990s and my IBS became much worse during that time and has never improved since.

My guess is that depression and/or stress could contribute to the triggering of IBS -- just as it would contribute to any illness, depending on whether you are prone. I also suspect that a good many people on this board may suffer (or have suffered) from similar things such as depression, stress and family problems, which may be one of the reasons they have turned to this board for support. This could give a false view to someone on this board that IBS people in general suffer from these things more than non-IBS people.

I guess in order to know for sure whether depression, stress and family (parental) problems are a common link for IBS people, one would have to survey both IBS people on this board and other IBS people who are (hopefully) doing fine without any support, as well as the general population.

I think Lana Marie's theory is interesting, but I honestly don't think IBS people experience depression or family-related stress much more frequently than the general population -- except obviously IBS can cause someone to be depressed and put them under a lot of stress, including in personal relationships.

I remember a doctor once telling me that everyone handles stress differently. Some people's stress goes to their back, others to their shoulders, others to their head (headaches) and others, like me (and probably those prone to IBS), to their "stomach."

Okay, I await annoyed replies to this posting!!!

Belinda

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