The gut has its own complex nervous system (the enteric nervous system), which links through to the sympathetic nervous system (as well as the rest of the nervous system). When you become anxious, stress hormones are released into your body, and these can be picked up by the gut. These can cause the colon to spasm, instead of calmly working on your digestion. You already know that your gut responds to your mood – such as butterflies in your tummy. We talk about feeling things “in my gut”, having a “gut response”. And in Japanese culture, the gut was the location of the soul, thus when commiting ritual suicide, the warrior cut his belly open. The expression “hara ga suwaru” – literally “the gut is settled” – means to be calm and without anxiety.

Once the nerves of the gut have made the link with the stress hormones, the colon becomes sensitised and responds quickly and intensely. And we are generally very sensitive to stress, and we associate these painful IBS symptoms with suffering.

Hypnotherapy can help because it is tried and tested for controlling stress. With hypnotherapy you can learn to calm down quickly when you feel the onset of stress, and also learn how to change your personal circumstances to reduce your overall risk of stress.