Irritable bowel syndrome: clinical, psychological and psychosocial interdependence

Abstract

The article presents the results of the authors’ own observations and an overview of the main directions in clinical and experimental psychological studies of patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), which includes complementary data in the framework of the modern biopsychosocial paradigm and the concept of psychosomatic relationships. The analysis confirms the complex somatocentric basis of the idea of the disease in patients using cognitively determined separation of physiological (bodily) and psychosocial determinants, which can be considered as a vector for psychotherapeutic interventions and secondary psychoprophylaxis. It is emphasized that the attitude to the disease as a socially frustrating factor has a stronger effect on the quality of life of patients and adaptive potential than the actual symptoms of the disease.