Table 5.

British society of gastroenterology guidelines for the management of inflammatory bowel disease in adults[19]

1 The essential supporting services to which the IBD team should have access should include a psychologist/counsellor (no EL reported)

2 Stress and adverse life events do not appear to trigger the onset of Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis, but most reports indicate that they may be involved in triggering relapse of IBD. Furthermore, behaviour limiting exposure to stressful situations is associated with reduced symptomatic relapse, at least in Crohn’s disease (no EL reported)

3 Evidence indicates that psychosocial support is useful, particularly in adolescents. There is no definitive evidence that psychological interventions improve the course of IBD itself but they do usually improve patients’ quality of life and wellbeing (no EL reported)

4 Psychological support should be available to patients with IBD (no EL reported)

IBD: Inflammatory bowel diseases; EL: Evidence level.