Gut Reactions May Be All in Your Head
Feeling queasy? Stomach out of sorts? Before you make that appointment with the gastroenterologist, consider whether anxiety may be your real problem.
The reason: A group of Norwegian researchers found that more often than not, feelings of nausea and queasiness are due to anxiety and depression rather than any serious medical problem involving the stomach, reports HealthScout News.
The Norwegian study, published in the current issue of the journal General Hospital Psychiatry, looked at some 62,000 people who were asked to complete surveys dealing with a wide array of health and lifestyle issues.
Forty-one percent of those whose major complaint was nausea were also found to suffer from an anxiety disorder, and 24 percent of those who complained of nausea were found to have clinical signs of depression.
The researchers say nausea was among the most prominent risk factors for emotional problems. Those who reported feeling nauseated were three times more likely to have an anxiety disorder, and nearly one-and-half times more likely to be suffering from depression, compared to those who had no nausea or other gastrointestinal complaints.