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A study of the association between Crohn's disease and psychiatric illness
Identifier
026322
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
The pathogens causing the disease have breached the intestinal wall and entered the blood stream, where they have entered the brain causing psychotic symptoms
A description of the experience
Gastroenterology. 1984 Feb;86(2):324-30.
A study of the association between Crohn's disease and psychiatric illness.
Helzer JE, Chammas S, Norland CC, Stillings WA, Alpers DH.
Abstract
This study is an examination of the association between Crohn's disease and psychiatric illness using careful gastrointestinal evaluation, a structured psychiatric interview of known reliability and validity, and explicit diagnostic criteria for psychiatric illness.
A proband sample of 50 subjects with Crohn's disease was obtained from a university clinic and a private clinic. Fifty control subjects with chronic medical illnesses obtained from the same two clinic sources were also examined.
Compared with controls, a significantly greater number of the patients with Crohn's disease met criteria for some psychiatric disorder at some time in their lives, and a significantly greater number had a diagnosis of depression. A greater number of the probands reported obsessional or phobic symptoms, and the mean number of obsessional symptoms was higher in probands than in controls.
PMID: 6690360