Good Morning America

Head on over to abc Good Morning America and watch the segment on Women and Stress....A couple of MDs wrote a book and were being interviewed.  They came up with cutsy little categories of how different people respond to stress.  One of the authors said that the people in the last category were prone to get ulcerative colitis, and they really needed to journal their feelings...

I was seething mad!  Isn't there enough of the "stress causes colitis" misinformation out there without MDs on a national show handing out more of the same?!

I went on Amazon.com and wrote a little review in hopes that it will dissuade some from buying this stupid book, but not sure if it will make it on the site, especially as I titled it "Quacks"...

I guess I should have had my 12 year old journaling in an attempt to prevent inflammatory bowel disease, eh?  Ugh..... 

They have many misconceptions out there regarding Uc that this doesn't surprise me!

They just recently found that in people with an IBD have a certain gene. I believe heavy stress can be a trigger that gene for some but the cause, no. There can be a variety of triggers but the main misconception is that stress will cause you to get Uc.

I agree! Thanks for the bleak humor, it gave me one of those "humorless chuckles" in solidarity with you -

I have to say this all....different "triggers" for different people...RIGHT??
I get that a child may not have stress as a factor but I KNOW in my case it's
a combination of things ( including stress) I have learned that play a role.
Saying that stress causes UC?? maybe not but it sure can induce a flare.

Gosh, that quote..... (GRRRRR) -

I was really lucky, but I had UC for over 20 years before I ever had cramping! My symptoms were D, frequency, urgency, and lots of blood.

I think there are a lot of people out there that believe this and unfortunately, once most people hear an "expert" on tv say it, they will latch right onto it.

You are right Eva Lou, they didn't come out and say that stress causes UC...but for people who don't know any better, that is what they will believe.

And to suggest the journaling would help...PUH-LEASE!  (That's not directed at you Eva...just still venting about the piece)

Yes, I felt that way too fruitgirl...I'm not that kind of stresser at all...if any, I'm more the 2nd 'cutesy category' (I loved that JoMarie).

I have literally had people tell me to eat healthy and meditate and I'd be healed...seriously?  And docs on the tv saying things like that are only making it worse!

I think the doctor made the comment off the cuff without any explanation as to UC and predisposition. Her saying people with that particular type of stress are prone to UC may be true in some category, but it can be more true for IBS, but I think the predisposition is first and the stress is another factor that can possibly trigger UC.

One can legitimately argue that it's stress as is diet.....people with bad diets tend to be highly stressed or emotional eaters, etc, but there is more to it methinks.

Complexity of a + b + c + d + .... = Z makes sense to me.

But simplicity of a = z doesn't. especially at an initial trigger that's usually missed. The body learns eventually to skip out the complicated equations and slip into a result of least resistence. My flares now are related to distress of deep emotional situations (but being sick with colds causes me deep emotional distress because it screws with my commitments and responsibilities), but that isn't the case of when I initially got my symptoms. The distress of being so sick and being told it's nothing created a more severe emotional mess. I was relieved somewhat when I got symptoms seriously enough to be referred to a gastro doc and got a tangible diagnosis. The rest I had to deal with through therapy because it didn't help the emotional turmoil with other issues and life events that were happening after diagnosis.

Journalling....hmmm, can be a good thing, but therapy worked for me where I could figure out why I do the things that I do and why I think the way that I thing. The end result, unfortunately means much more work....which sucks, but worth it in "my end".

lol.
quincy

I journaled all of my life and got UC.


That being said, I do think stress and the resulting depression were my trigger to UC. BUT, that was because I had a genetic predisposition to UC. A lot of people are stressed, but not everyone gets UC. I just went onto GMA's website and on the last page of the article says autoimmune diseases are directly a result of stress. Um, no. There's a genetic component. Otherwise, so many more people would have AI diseases.



It's sad when even doctors don't understand diseases.

While I don't agree that stress causes UC (at all), it's definitely a "trigger" for me.  I've stayed in remission through every season, I've flared in every season.  I've changed my diet in several different ways and it hasn't effected me one way or the other as far as UC goes.  But every single one of my flares came at times of major stress in my life (divorce, career, etc.)  I'm not a stressful person, but I have had times where it's unavoidable ... and the flares always follow.  Everyone is different, but stress is a "trigger" for me.

Regarding Atkins diet: I did it for 3 years solid and remained in remission the entire time. 

I just went to the GMA website and heard the interview.  I wouldn't just call these categories cutesy, I'd call them trite and irrelevant.  The doctors are claiming that this type (the UC type) is tired and detached from "their world". 

Aw, geez.  I'd like to know how anyone who spends as much time as we do looking for bathrooms every where we go and sitting on toilets could possibly be detached from our world.