Emotional component in gastrointestinal disorders.

In peptic ulcer, ulcerative colitis and achalasia of the esophagus there is usually an important emotional component, the significance of which in the etiology of these diseases is not yet known, but which has a profound effect on the course and severity of symptoms. None of these diseases can successfully be treated without consideration of this aspect and it must be dealt with by a general physician rather than a psychiatrist, in most instances. Eighty per cent of the purely functional disorders of the gastrointestinal tract are manifestations of neurosis. The results of treatment in these cases should be good if correctly undertaken early in the course of the disease. The author believes that many gastrointestinal neuroses which have become intractable are such because of improper treatment at the onset, and are thus iatrogenic.