Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Mental Health

Today is Time To Talk Day, a day promoting the conversation around mental health. So I thought this was a good opportunity to talk about inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and mental health.

IBD can affect our mind as well as our body. Living with a lifelong condition like IBD can be hard to process and deal with, and living with digestive symptoms, pain, fatigue, and the many other symptoms that come with IBD can take its toll. Research shows that depression and anxiety are significantly more common in with IBD and that stress may induce flare ups or make symptoms worse.  

I know it can be difficult to talk about IBD and it can feel very isolating but I would encourage you to do so. Sharing how you are feeling and the impacts it is having on your mental health can help the people around you support you better. I am very open about my IBD journey now but I never used to talk to anyone and kept it secret from many of my friends at school. This is something I will always regret as subsequently friends have said they wish they’d have known so they could help support me. I think it took a toll on my mental health and made everything more stressful because I was trying to hide the disease as well as deal with it. I am so lucky that my job now, as a nutritionist specialising in IBD, that it allows me to facilitate conversations for people with IBD. Many clients I meet in my clinic have never met another person with IBD and I am always happy to be a friendly empathetic ear knowing exactly what they are going through having been through it myself. I can also help clients find further psychological support if we feel they need it.

I know some people with IBD have anxiety around leaving the house or not being near a loo. Others worry about what other people may think of them or have negative views of themselves because of their IBD. If these feelings become too much, please talk to someone or seek help through your doctor and speak to a councillor. Sometimes just talking to a friend or family member can help. In some cases, self-help techniques like meditation and deep breathing can be appropriate too.  

I find I see a common thread in people with IBD, a strength and determination I don’t see in many other people, but its hard putting on a brave face all the time and its important to remember that its OK not to be OK when you are living with a chronic condition like IBD. I want you to take this opportunity to talk – to your friends, to your family, to me or to your doctor. Starting conversations can sometimes be hard particularly face to face so it might be easier to talk side by side so if you do talk in person, you might want to chat while you are doing something else. You could start a conversation when you’re walking, cooking or stuck in traffic.

I have written a free e-book to help you find a way forward for your everyday life with Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Whether you are right at the beginning of your journey with IBD or have been living with your condition for years and feel like you have tried almost everything, there are things you can do everyday, beyond the medication you are taking, to help you take back control.