Anxiety and Depression
IBS is also associated with anxiety and depression. It is still not known if IBS symptoms are a result of mental stress or whether the physiological stress with IBS makes people more vulnerable to psychological problems. Whatever comes first, in a vicious cycle, anxiety and digestive symptoms of IBS strengthen each other.
In a study of 94,000 women and men, IBS patients were more than 50% more likely to have an anxiety disorder and 70% more likely to have a mood disorder, such as depression. Among patients with and without IBS, another study compared levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Those with IBS reported greater increases in cortisol, reflecting higher levels of stress. In addition, another study found that stress and symptoms of IBS were decreased by anxiety reduction therapy and medications