[Psychological support and treatment in inflammatory bowel disease: the physician-patient relationship]

Abstract

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) interferes with the daily activities of affected individuals and impairs their quality of life. The psychological factors related to IBD play an important role since they negatively affect the course of the disease and the patients' general wellbeing. Thus, stress, anxiety and depressed mood are highly frequent in patients with IBD and are associated with an increase in recurrences and symptom severity. Psychological treatments have been shown to improve the course of the disease by decreasing emotional distress. In addition, a good physician-patient relationship favors communication, trust and joint decision making. IBD requires a multidimensional approach in which psychological treatment forms part of the effective management of the disease.