FOOD INTOLERANCE OR PSYCHOSOMATIC ILLNESS? THE DOCTORS’ ANSWER
The question of how many psychosomatic cases the average family doctor sees is an interesting one. One survey concluded that a full third of patients have some psychological element in their illness, with 18 per cent showing purely psychiatric or psychosomatic symptoms. Other studies put the figure even higher, some as high as 50 per cent. Such studies have received a lot of publicity, so it is small wonder that the average family doctor suspects a psychological cause rather than a physical one, especially where patients complain of multiple symptoms.
Doctors who are aware of food intolerance and experienced in diagnosing it have a different statistical outlook. They vary in their estimates of how many patients might trace some or all of their symptoms to food, but most come up with a figure of 20-30 per cent. The surveys described above, that showed large numbers of patients suffering from psychosomatic symptoms, took little account of the possibility of food intolerance. Many of those classified as ‘psychosomatic’ may in fact have been sensitive to food.
On the other hand, more objective methods of assessing psychological disorders have also pinned the ‘psychosomatic’ label on problems such as irritable bowel syndrome and migraine – diseases that are claimed as prime indicators of food intolerance. And forms of treatment that address the mind rather than the body – including psychotherapy and hypnotherapy – have been successfully used to treat them. In the next section we will look more closely at these apparently conflicting claims in relation to one particular disorder, irritable bowel syndrome or IBS.
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