Psychological aspects of irritable bowel syndrome.

The literature on psychological aspects of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is reviewed. Psychiatric and/or psychometric assessment of IBS samples has consistently revealed a high prevalence of psychological symptoms by comparison with non-psychiatric patient and healthy control groups. Various psychological factors have been implicated in the aetiology of IBS and in the decision to seek medical help, including psychoneurotic personality traits, abnormal illness behaviour and life event stress. Controlled studies of psychological intervention for IBS, while scarce, suggest that supportive psychotherapy and hypnotherapy may be helpful. The long-term efficacy of such treatments remains to be demonstrated.