# The Relationship Between IBS & Psychiatric Illness



## Guest (Aug 3, 2003)

For any who have wondered: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.f...5&dopt=Abstract


> quote: The relationship between irritable bowel syndrome and psychiatric illness. A family study.Woodman CL, Breen K, Noyes R Jr, Moss C, Fagerholm R, Yagla SJ, Summers R.University of Iowa, Department of Psychiatry, Iowa City 52242, USA.Although irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common disorder among gastrointestinal clinic outpatients, it continues to be a diagnosis of exclusion. In treatment-seeking populations, IBS has been frequently associated with psychiatric illness, and this co-occurrence has added to controversy about the validity of the IBS diagnosis. This study is a preliminary effort to examine the nature of this relationship by using the family study design. The probands consisted of 20 patients with IBS and 20 patients who had undergone laproscopic cholecystectomy. Their first-degree relatives were interviewed to obtain lifetime diagnoses of functional gastrointestinal and psychiatric syndromes. Significantly more IBS probands had lifetime psychiatric illness than the cholecystectomy probands. The lifetime prevalence of IBS as well as other functional gastrointestinal syndromes was not significantly different between the groups of relatives. However, significantly more relatives of the IBS probands had lifetime psychiatric illness than the relatives of the cholecystectomy probands. Among the relatives with functional gastrointestinal disorders, significantly more had psychiatric illness. This preliminary study provides support for a relationship between IBS and psychiatric illness by the finding of an increased prevalence of psychiatric disorders among the relatives of patients who have IBS.PMID: 9538675 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]


Evie


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

bump


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## caffeine (May 6, 2003)

Thanks for posting this.


> quote: This preliminary study provides support for a relationship between IBS and psychiatric illness by the finding of an increased prevalence of psychiatric disorders among the relatives of patients who have IBS.


This hits a strong cord with me. My mother has Borderline Personality disorder. I attribute this to much of my stress, anxiety and occasional depression, all of which have exacerbated my IBS severly in the past year.Just wondering how many others have family members with psychiatric illness? caffeine


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## trbell (Nov 1, 2000)

Has anyone read the article? I think they are talking about depression and anxiety. if 20% of the population has a history of depression, 20% has a history of anxiety, and 20% has a history of IBS they are bound to occur together? I don't think they were talking about borderline personaity?Bada


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

Bada, The abstract does not state exclusively "anxiety" and "depression". It states "psychiatric illness". It is my understanding that anxiety and depression represent only two of those.I have an inlaw with a psychiatric illness Caffeine, and I can definitely identify with the stress that can cause the rest of the family.If I had close intimate contact with this person on a regular basis, I would definitely look into a family self help support group for those that have members with a psychiatric illness. Such a group could help identify healthy coping skills and foster understanding and perhaps lower the stress level a bit.BQ


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## trbell (Nov 1, 2000)

that's why I asked if anybody had read the article. relying on abstracts can be very misleading and lead to confusions like this. and no, I'm not being negative toward Evie, here. I just think that in general, if people are going to post abstracts they should be expected to have read the article so they can explain what it means rather than leaving us to guess.caffeine, yes it can be very stressful to live with someone with a disorder like that.Bada


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

Yes, Tom, so you have mentioned.I do not have the money or inclination to join PubMed. And I would bet I am not alone. Abstracts are what they are, a summary. I am pretty sure we are all aware a summary doesn't mention all specifics of the study.But thanks... again.BQ


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## Guest (Aug 6, 2003)

Caffeine... I also have Borderline Personality Disorder, but I prefer to call it by its new & much more appropriate name, Dyslimbia. BPD both labels and implies a character flaw, which is not any more true for someone with Dyslimbia than it is for the general population.... The term, Dyslimbia, acknowledges its biological origins and enables healing. Here's a link to a site regarding this illness that is an eye opener and a Godsend for those of us who are stricken. http://www.biologicalunhappiness.com/AskDoc/ Just a note that there are still behavioral health care professionals out there.. most of them in fact, who do not realize that Dyslimbia is a biological illness. In fact, traditional psychiatric treatment believes that we are "uncurable"... which is a fallacy. Understanding this enables better treatment. We aren't terrible, horrible people who enjoy hurting others... we "live at the border" between reality & psychosis... and the only difference between us and normal people is that our threshhold for stress is much lower and we are unable to effectively manage stress very well unless we learn about our illness and do what we need to do in order to temper our natural inclinations. Very basically, our limbic systems, which control our emotions, have a short-circuit. We automatically interpret incoming stimuli as negative. The trick to healing is to recognize when this is happening and reverse the process. I have learned to do this. I still mess up sometimes, but overall I am doing much much better than before.Caffeine, I caution you against "blaming" your mother for your stress. That is, in fact, a characteristic of someone who has Dyslimbia. The key to feeling well is to accept responsibility for our own stress and deal with it.I plan to join TARA and become an advocate for those with Dyslimbia who have no voice of their own.Bada (Tom)... you've even said it yourself, mine is a mild case and in recent months I've been able to make some significant changes that I attribute mostly to two things: Spiritual growth and positive reinforcement such as that which is enabled during the hypnotherapy.There IS a connection between IBS and psychiatric illness. It has now been formally established. For me, this is very exciting news because it means that the research into healing both will improve.Evie


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## trbell (Nov 1, 2000)

pubmed is free. Many of the articles mentioned can be obtained free from libraries. I'm sorry if I mistook your comment, but i thought you were criticizing me, based on your interpretation of the abstract?Bada


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## trbell (Nov 1, 2000)

sorry, BQ, I'm probably being over sensitive.Bada


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

Tis ok Tom, worry not. I do not sign up for many of these types of things cause I kinda do not like giving my email out very often. And most require at least that. So that is why I don't have any inclination.But I am aware I miss out on specifics sometimes, but it is a price I am willing to pay. And I do not make decisions based on abstracts. They are interesting and point me to possible future research that may be conducted.... and that is it.BQ


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## Guest (Aug 6, 2003)

And Tom, I know that you aren't deliberately being negative towards me. You are simply an exceptionally intelligent human being who automatically propels into "research mode" no matter what the topic. You've had considerably more experience reading medical documentation than I have. I view your skepticism as an attribute....  You've also gone to bat for me on more than one occasion, both here and in real time. There are times when I wish I had but one tenth of your insight.Evie


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## trbell (Nov 1, 2000)

Thanks, BQ and Evie. Sometimes when I post in this forum I feel like I'm in a shooting gallery? My guess actually is that the article is talking about heritability of disorders (illnesses that run in families) rather than the effect of living with the mentally ill, but caffeine does raise an intersting questikon so let's get on with it.K or flux might have access to the original article.BaDA


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## caffeine (May 6, 2003)

Essence tries, I had never heard it refereed to as dyslimbia, thank you for the link. I applaud you for having the courage to admit you have this illness and for getting help.


> quote: Caffeine, I caution you against "blaming" your mother for your stress. That is, in fact, a characteristic of someone who has Dyslimbia. The key to feeling well is to accept responsibility for our own stress and deal with it.


I, however caution you to not accuse me of blaming my mother for all my stress or suggest I may have the condition. I have in the past year since discovering Borderline Personality Disorder done a lot of soul searching and investigation into my personal problems (problems related to my mother and other problems). I have read books, websites, and joined an online support group for children of parents suffering the illness. I have gained a better handle on my stress and IBS and am still working on other ways to deal. I do hope, though, that you realize the great deal of stress your illness does cause on your loved ones. And unlike you my mother refuses to admit she has a problem or get help.Anyway I didnï¿½t mean to open up such a can of worms! All I meant was by reading the abstract I concluded it saying there was a connection between the two, whether biological or not, and I can relate to the truth that there is a connection.caffeine


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## Guest (Aug 6, 2003)

No can of worms, Caffeine, just lots of good discussion going on.If your mother was diagnosed with BPD (Dyslimbia) but has never sought help for it, trust me that she is living in a state of almost constant despair, despite how it may look to you or others on the outside. She is probably doing the best that she possibly can. Having this illness and not getting help for it is like a living nightmare. The internal pain is often unbearable and I suspect she will do just about anything to rid herself of that internal pain. I also suspect that she is unable to stop the pain, stop her reactions to it, and lives with a great deal of self hate because of it. About 10% of people with BPD (Dyslimbia) end up committing suicide.Due to its biological origins as well as its devastating symptoms, people with BPD (Dyslimbia) need a comprehensive, interdisciplinary approach to healing.... and their families need to educate themselves about the illness so that they can provide support for the stricken family member as well as themselves.There are support groups and information out there for families of people who have BPD (Dyslimbia). The link I gave you is a great start.One of the hallmarks of recovery is learning to NOT blame others for our stress. This is even sound strategy for people who don't have BPD (Dyslimbia). (My mother also had BPD (Dyslimbia). It tends to run in families.)Keep in mind that people who have BPD (Dyslimbia) did not ask to be born with the biological imbalance that causes this illness, and when treated appropriately can and will respond favorably. It is a very difficult illness to treat, education is paramount, but most of all love and understanding are the keys to healing.Here is another link to help dispel the myths regarding BPD (Dyslimbia): http://www.mhsanctuary.com/borderline/myths.htm Good luck to you and your mother, Evie


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## caffeine (May 6, 2003)

Yes evie I have been to http://www.mhsanctuary.com plus many other websites and am a member of one of the support groups at http://www.bpdcentral.com/. I have also read books like Stop Walking on Eggshells and Understanding the Borderline Mother. Education is the key.I do understand the turmoil it causes the suffer and everyone involved. I think you are amazing to have the courage not only to get help and want to recover but to also be able to talk about it. Right now I am focused on working on myself and hopefully someday my mother will follow the path you have.Good luck with your recovery.Caffeine


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## Guest (Aug 6, 2003)

Sounds like you are on a positive road to healing, yourself, Caffeine and you should also be commended for that.It was actually in the last year that I made the most progress and it was with great pains...







If it would help, feel free to give your mother my email address and I would be happy to talk to her about her illness as a fellow sufferer. It's living hell and we need all the friends we can get.Your Mother is very lucky to have you, such a well-informed and positive daughter, on her side.If/when she does attempt to get some help for the illness, depending on where you live, it may be difficult to locate a therapist/psychologist who understands the biological origins, but it is very important that they do. The best place to start is with Dr. Heller from the first link that I gave you and go from there. I am sure he can recommend someone in your area with this much needed expertise.It's sorta like the same thing as trying to find a doctor/psychiatrist who understands IBS and knows how to teat it effectively as well.I have found that some of the Internet support boards for BPD (Dyslimbia) do not understand its biological origins very well, and that is why I stopped participating on the two that I was active on for a short while. Instead, as I said, I am becoming a part of TARA to advocate proper education and treatment of this heinous illness.But I'm only one person, and we need all the help we can get !!Well... back to my paint brush and wallpaper now ...........







Evie


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## GailSusan (Dec 23, 2000)

Any study of only 20 patients in a control group and 20 patients in the treatment group doesn't past muster with me. While I certainly can see why there would be a link between some kind of genetic issues with IBS and psychiatric problems (because the enteric nervous system and psychiatric problems both entail biological problems with the central nervous system), I don't think this study should be taken for more than the "preliminary" status that the authors gave it.


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## Guest (Aug 8, 2003)

Agree. Preliminary results are just that.I do also find these results encouraging, however, as the more we know, the better the ongoing research will be and the better the treatments we can provide. And who knows? The final, verified results might even tip the other way and suggest an even stronger link?


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## trbell (Nov 1, 2000)

since there is an interest in diagnosis it might be worthwhile to check the new ICD 10 to see where they classify IBS?This is what they say about CFS:The ICD is a huge tome which takes, quite literally years to develop.Once one is a bit familiar with terms, it is relatively easy to read. The ICD-9 had only numeric codes; CFS is coded to 780.71, under aheading of "symptoms signs and ill-defined conditions" where as myalgicencephalomyelitis is coded to 323.9 a neurological code.The ICD-10 introduces alphanumeric codes.It's taken years for the US to modify the codes in the ICD-10. ICD-10was published in separate volumes in 1992,1993 & 1994. The "CM" standsfor Clinical Modifications. Each country is allowed to modify the ICDto make it appropriate for that given country. We are now in a draftstage.The draft US ICD-10CM includes the following information:The G code delineates:" Diseases of the nervous system (G00-G-99)A G code excludes: symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratoryfindings, not elsewere classified. Those excluded are found at R00-R-94)"I*Inflammatory* diseases of the central nervous system (G00-G09) has aseparate heading. under which is found:G04: Encephalitis, myelitis, encephaolmyelitis(excluding benign myalgic encephalomyelitis G93.3)The above is interesting because there has been a lot of debate Re:term myalgic encephalomyelitis because -itis means inflammation. Benignmyalgic encephalomyelitis is not found under the code which specifiesinflammation.G93 has the heading: Other disorders of the brainUnder this heading is found:G93.3 Postviral fatigue syndrome Benign myalgic encephalomyelitis Chronic fatigue syndrome, postviral Excludes 1 Chronic fatigue syndrome NOS (R53.82)R codes , (R00-R99), delineate: Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinicaland laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified"This chapter includes symptoms, signs, abnormal results of clinical orother investigative procedures, and ill defined conditions regardingwhich no diagnosis classifiable elsewhere is recorded.Signs and symptoms that point rather definitely to a given diagnosishave been assigned to a category in other chapters of theclassification. In general, categories in this chapter include the lesswell- defined conditions that, without the necessary study of the caseto establish a final diagnosis point perhaps equally to two or morediseases or to two or more systems of the body. Practically allcategories in the chapter could be designated "not otherwisespecified". ""unknown etiology" or "transient" The Alphabetical Indexshould be consulted to determine which symptoms and signs are to beallocated here and which to other chapters."R50-R69 covers: General symptoms and signs.It is here that we find:R53.82 Chronic Fatigue, Unspecified Chronic Fatigue Syndrome NOS excludes 1: post viral chronic fatigue (G93.3) post viral fatigue syndrome (G93.3)The "F" classifications, which will be of interest to UK readers readas follows:Heading for the F classifications (F01-F99):"Includes: disorders of psychological developmentExcludes: symptoms signs and abnormal clinical laboratory findings, notelsewhere classified (R00-R-99)"Subheading:Anxiety, dissociative, stress-related, somatoform and other nonpsychotic mental disorders (F40-F48)Under F48 we find:Other nonpsychotic mental disordersF48.8 Other specified nonpsychotic mental disordersBriquet's disorderDhat syndromeNeurastheniaOccupational neurosis, including writer's crampPsychastheniaPsychathenic neurosisPsychogenic SyncopeI hope that this makes things somewhat clearer.Jean HarrisonPresidentMAME inc.www.mame-net.org --------------------------------------------- Too much mail? Try a digest version. See http://www.co-cure.org/digest.htm Send posts to mailto:CO-CURE###listserv.nodak.edu Join or leave the list at http://www.co-cure.org/sub.htm ---------------------------------------------Bada


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## Guest (Aug 9, 2003)

I think I need for you to translate/summarize. I also suffer from some form of cognitive dysfunction and even though I read through what you just posted twice, I still have no idea what to surmise from it, so could you help me out here please?


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## trbell (Nov 1, 2000)

If you want to see how IBS is classified in ICD10 call your library and look at a copy?Bada


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## Guest (Aug 9, 2003)

Naw, I really enjoy the mystery....


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