ABSTRACT
This chapter evaluates in depth the best evidence exploring the link between irritable bowel syndrome and psychosocial variables and attempts to determine whether the presence of depression and anxiety is linked with the clinical manifestations of this common functional illness. The association between irritable bowel syndrome and psychiatric illness has been assessed in a carefully controlled study performed by investigators from the University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle. The study confirmed the magnitude of the somatization phenomenon and the fact that only a minority of patients with irritable bowel syndrome suffer from currently active depressive or anxiety disorders. The interviewers were blinded to the group membership of their subjects. The overall burden of psychopathology was clearly increased only in patients with somatization disorder, as reflected by larger symptom counts for generalized anxiety disorder, posttraumatic stress, schizophrenia, eating disorders, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
