Finding the person you can be; a recipe for recovery and success.
It has been a while since I last wrote a post for this blog. I have been away on the farther flung British Islands in search of the space to … Continue reading
Decoding the symptoms of your IBS
One of the first lessons people learn when they attend self help groups for IBS is that everybody’s symptoms are different. Some people have diarrhoea and abdominal pain that … Continue reading
The healing power of poetry
In New Jersey even bridges are named after poets. Extending over the Delaware River, the Walt Whitman Bridge connects two distinct cultural communities. To the north is Philadelphia, the proud … Continue reading
Escaping from the tyranny of what happened: a message of hope.
Over a hundred years ago, Joseph Breuer and Sigmund Freud wrote that ‘hysterics suffer mainly from reminiscences’. Hysteria, as a medical diagnosis, has gone out of fashion, outlawed by the … Continue reading
Bing: the art of the grudge.
*Bing could never make a decision. He was forever caught between what he wanted to do and what he felt he ought to do. A rebel at heart, he desired … Continue reading
The things that happen: childhood trauma and IBS later in life.
Two weeks ago I received a letter from Judith. This led to the following correspondence, which, with her permission, I have reproduced here with just a few minor edits. Over … Continue reading
Stuck; when your bowels take over your life.
Stephen is stuck. He is just 20 years old, but his life is controlled by his bowels. He has seen the experts, been scoped, scanned, his body fluids have been … Continue reading
You’re only as sick as your secrets.
Jenny had had IBS ever since her early twenties. It was the pain deep in the pit of her stomach that affected her most. It made her feel unbearably sad … Continue reading
It may be shocking, but does your doctor understand your IBS?
Sam Bearfoot, who blogs and broadcasts on UK Health Radio as The Digestion Detective, wrote last week to say how much she enjoyed The IBS Network’s 25th Anniversary Event, ‘IBS, … Continue reading
The patient’s story and the politics of representation.
Fifty years ago, medical students were always instructed to record a good history. This was a story of ‘the patient’. It could take anything from half an hour to an … Continue reading
The Sensitive Gut 