Anxiety is defined as worry or unease about an imminent event with an uncertain outcome.
Your brain and your gastrointestinal tract are linked by a communication system in your body called the gut-brain axis. When your brain, which controls your emotions and thoughts, experiences anxiety, that reaction can impact your gastrointestinal system-what is referred to as "the nervous stomach" or Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Keeping your anxiety under control can help prevent or ease Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
Anxiety can hide in our bodies as well as in our habits. Habits like overeating or biting our nails can be ways that we try to manage our anxiety. In fact, sometimes anxiety itself can become a habit.
Dr. Judson Brewer is an internationally renowned addiction psychiatrist and neuroscientist. He is an associate professor in the School of Public Health, and Medical School at Brown University. Dr. Brewer's research lab has created a mindfulness app that is very helpful in breaking anxiety-driven habit loops.
Access the app, Unwinding Anxiety, and start getting your anxiety and Irritable Bowel Syndrome under control.
