Psychology Of IBS
Butterflies in the stomach are usually associated with nerves. How often have your bowel habits changed when you were faced with a new or challenging task or event in your life. When I had a fear of public speaking many years ago, I remember having the need to empty my bowels on numerous occasions prior to a presentation or a speech despite being regular as clockwork most days.
When the body’s ‘alarm system’, the ‘fight or flight response’ is activated the digestive system shuts down to conserve energy so we know that the nervous system impacts on the digestive system.
The symptoms of IBS can be painful, discomforting and embarrassing which then leads to more stress and anxiety relating to travel, being at work and socialising etc. “What if there isn’t a toilet immediately accessible, what if I don’t get to the toilet in time etc.” Your life can become controlled by your digestive system and what would be everyday activities for most people can be a potential obstacle for the IBS sufferer.
Research proves that hypnotherapy is one of, if not the most effective treatments for IBS when it can’t be controlled by a simple change of diet. The hypnotic state is a deep state of relaxation. By learning how to relax deeply and achieving a hypnotic state every symptom in the body slows down, stress/anxiety is minimised and you learn how to regain control over your thoughts, feelings and emotions and send the correct signals from your nervous system to the digestive system.
With IBS the digestive system is either blocked (constipation) or it is working too quickly (Diarrhoea) so hypnosis helps you to slow it down or speed it up. If you would like us to assess whether or not your symptoms can be helped with hypnotherapy call us now to arrange a free consultation.
