Do your IBS flares and your emotions feel like this wave? Then you are probably dealing with Emotional IBS.
You may have already heard that your IBS is stress-related. Maybe you are on anti-depressants or feel anxious. You might also feel frustrated or angry all the time. Or even a little numb.
Whatever your unique experience, you are likely a smart person who finds emotions challenging. Whether at home, at work, or socialising.
Enter Emotional IBS
For me, emotional IBS is created by a state of heightened emotional sensitivity. You may feel that there is some chaos repeating in your life. You’re on edge without really understanding why.
Either way you do not feel at ease with your feelings. Sometimes they can feel overwhelming. Like the wave, they can pick you up and throw you against the shore.
There may be some emotions that you have blocked out of your life completely. These are the ones that feel the strongest when they surge up.
These are probably the feelings that when triggered, set off the rollercoaster of IBS symptoms.
And you may be being triggered often.
Dealing with IBS and emotions
I know first-hand just how horrible it can feel when the next wave – and the next IBS flare-up strikes.
I didn’t seem to have any control whatsoever over these waves.
Finally I realised that my emotional IBS was not as chaotic as I had thought.
My IBS flares actually followed specific and familiar patterns – even though I couldn’t see them at first. Like programmes on a washing machine.
But here’s the thing.
Those trigger loops are set inside our emotional programming. In our unconscious mind. Along with everything else we have learned and put into memory (think walking, speaking, driving…)
And this is why what you have tried for your IBS has not really worked.
When you work with IBS and the emotional programming and unravel the triggers, the programme begins to dissolve.
Each of your IBS symptoms has at least one, maybe several emotional triggers.
How to start finding your IBS triggers
Most of your emotional IBS triggers will be unconscious. Which means that you will not be really aware of them.
However there is one place you can start looking for triggers and patterns right now: the emotions you feel every day.
Instead of focusing on what you eat, start noticing what you are feeling as you go through your day. And every day this week.
This is not as easy to do as it sounds. We get sucked into the “doing” very easily. We all do. But get curious and see what you can discover about yourself.
This is where I started to dismantle what was triggering my various long-term IBS symptoms.