The connection between stress, anxiety and your stomach issues

Does stress and anxiety leave you clutching your stomach? You’re not alone. Stress and anxiety don’t just affect your mind; they affect your gut too.

According to Dr Jaqi Batt, a Paediatrician at Mediclinic Louis Leipoldt, there is a strong link between the brain and the gut. The digestive tract has an extensive network of nerves, the biggest outside the brain, and the two are constantly communicating through shared nerve pathways. Whether it’s a once-off event or chronic anxiety, stress takes a real physical toll on the digestive system. When the body feels anxious, stress hormones and chemical messengers are released into the body and enter the digestive tract. There, they can disrupt normal digestion, alter the balance of healthy gut bacteria and even reduce immune responses in the gut. This imbalance may contribute to a range of gastrointestinal symptoms and conditions.

This is because the brain and digestive system are constantly communicating through what’s known as the gut–brain axis. And when one feels stressed or anxious, the body goes into full fight-or-flight mode, which results in the release of hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline. 

Common stress-related gut symptoms and conditions include: 

• Indigestion
• Stomach Cramps
• Diarrhoea
• Constipation
• Losing your appetite
• Nausea
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) 
• Peptic Ulcers

How this affects your daily life

Once the underlying cause of these digestive issues is identified, it may create a difficult cycle that can be hard to break. When symptoms such as diarrhoea, cramps or indigestion begin, the fear of them happening again can become a source of anxiety all on its own.

Over time, this may affect confidence, social life and overall quality of life. Visiting a gastroenterologist to address both the physical symptoms and the underlying stress or anxiety is one of the keys to breaking this cycle.