Do Symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome Improve when Patients Receive Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Co-morbid Anxiety Disorders in a Primary Care Psychological Therapy (IAPT) Service?

BACKGROUND: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common co-morbid condition with anxiety disorders, and patients often report a fear of incontinence in public places. This type of bowel control anxiety (BCA) can be conceptualized as a phobic syndrome. Yet little evidence exists on the prevalence or outcomes of these co-morbidities in routine primary care psychological therapy (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies, IAPT) services. AIMS: To examine the prevalence and outcomes of IBS and BCA patients treated with cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for anxiety disorders within a routine IAPT service. METHOD: An observational cohort study screened 2322 referrals to an IAPT service over 12 months for the presence of IBS. Patients with co-morbid anxiety disorders and IBS were grouped into those with, and without BCA. Patients completed the IBS symptom severity scale and the IAPT minimum data set. Diagnoses and outcomes were examined for all groups up to 6 months follow-up. RESULTS: A greater proportion of BCA patients had a primary diagnosis of phobic disorder. After receiving CBT, patients made clinically significant improvement in both anxiety and IBS symptoms at 6 months follow-up. Patients with BCA made greater improvement in phobia scales and IBS symptoms than non-BCA patients. CONCLUSIONS: Anxiety disorders with co-morbid IBS improved significantly in a routine IAPT service. A significant proportion of co-morbid IBS sufferers had a fear of incontinence in public places (BCA). Directly addressing and modifying these fears with CBT appeared to enhance improvement in both phobic anxiety and IBS symptoms.

Experimental single-session imagery rescripting of distressing memories in bowel/bladder-control anxiety: a case series.

Bowel and bladder obsession [bowel/bladder-control anxiety (BBCA)] is a viscerally centered phobic syndrome involving a specific concern about losing control of bowel or bladder functioning in a public place. Like other anxiety disorders, BBCA is characterized by intrusive imagery. We have previously described the nature of intrusive mental imagery in BBCA and found imagery themes to be linked to actual experiences of loss of control or to "near misses." A causal role for imagery in symptom maintenance can be inferred by examining the effects of imagery rescripting. Moreover, successful rescripting may point to a potentially efficacious avenue for treatment development. Three cases of imagery rescripting are described here with pre-, post-, and follow-up (1-week) data reported. After rescripting, two participants experienced pronounced reductions in imagery vividness, distress, shame, disgust, and belief conviction. Most importantly, all three participants experienced a reduction in fear-associated bladder and/or bowel sensations. The results support a causal role for mental imagery in bowel-bladder-control anxiety and suggest that rescripting of distressing intrusive memories linked to recurrent images may be a useful avenue for development of cognitive-behavioral treatments of bladder/bowel-control anxiety.