Psychological aspect of psychosomatic pathology of the colon

Taking into consideration the age of individuals, 100 patients (25 men and 75 women) aged 21-60 years were examined by using clinical, psychological and statistic (correlation) analysis to determine whether there are relations between clinical manifestations of the irritable bowel syndrome and personality. They were all referred to a psychiatrist from a gastroenterology hospital. The formation and dynamics of this syndrome, as well as its the clinical variations (diarrhea, pain, constipation) are largely determined by personality traits (increased anxiety; high inclination to somatization of emotions with inability to adequately verbalize them, pronounced intrapunitivity; direction of hostility to themselves; permanent inclination to depressive reactivity) and a passive-defensive behavior under the conditions of frustration.