What are some of the emotional aspects of living with Crohn's disease?

Living with Crohn's disease is difficult because patients don't feel like they have control over symptoms; the constant issues can cause depression. Watch psychiatrist Sudeepta Varma, MD, discuss the emotional issues that Crohn's patients deal with.

Transcript

00:00

People often find that depression and anxiety results because they don't feel like a sense of stability in their life. They don't feel like a sense of control.

00:07

Perhaps they have a world view of themselves as being sick, perhaps dependent. [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:18

Crohn's disease can be a particularly difficult illness to deal with because it has to do with eating, right?

00:26

And we have to do that several times a day. People with Crohn's disease often have severe abdominal pain.

00:32

They have frequent diarrhea. Sometimes, they find that even before they get to the bathroom they might be soiling themselves.

00:39

It makes travel very difficult. And they may not know where the bathroom always is.

00:45

They may have to take extra clothes with them. And even though these might be part of solutions, people often find that depression and anxiety results

00:53

because they don't feel like a sense of stability in their life. They don't feel like a sense of control. Perhaps, they have a world view of themselves

01:00

as being sick or perhaps dependent. And we know that at times of stress, people's immune system, particularly in the gut,

01:08

can be lowered. There can be more inflammation. So stress can also cause flare-ups of Crohn's disease.

01:14

So it is very important to, again, recruit the support systems, the family networks. And for some people, a small subset,

01:22

they may find the flare-ups too challenging. And for these people, perhaps psychotherapy, or if there is independent depression or anxiety,

01:30

coping with that, talking to a therapist, and perhaps antidepressants in that population might be helpful.