Anxiety and GIT

Background * There are many gastro-intestinal symptoms encountered when a person experiences any stress or anxiety. Brain and GIT have a very intimate association. Brain sends anxiety signals to the gastro-intestinal tract through sympathetic nervous system, for which GIT responds by releasing its own hormones which indeed induce various reactions like nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, increased gut motility, stomach cramps, etc. Methods * A study based on questionnaire format through google forms is conducted amongst Indian population aged between 15years to 60 years. Students and employees are the main study group. Results * Majority of the population involved in this study are female. Nearly 61% of the cases experienced one or the other gastro-intestinal symptom during anxiety and stress. Conclusion * This article summarize that there is an intimate connection between anxiety and GIT. It is the sympathetic nervous system and the gastro- intestinal hormones that play the game to induce various stress related GIT symptoms. Through this article we want to outline the various mechanisms involved in causing the stress related GIT symptoms. Gist of the anxiety management and symptomatic treatment is also underlined.