Personality traits as a risk factor

I am going to quote a website that mentions all the risk factors for UC. One of these factors is Personality type:

website said...
Personality type

Individuals who exhibit anxious or obsessive personality traits and/or are introverted or emotionally immature have a higher risk of UC than those who do not. One study reported that 84% of individuals with UC have these personality traits.

I am interested, does this ring true for you?

It definitely does for me, I had problems with anxiety and depression a little bit, I am introverted and always had a problem of handling my emotions. My dominant emotion is sadness.

Post Edited (emilp89) : 12/30/2015 10:53:30 AM (GMT-7)

Some of these sound like me, but it could also be a chicken-egg question imo.

I think temperament and anxiety would be minor factors compared to the proven environmental triggers and genetic factors related to immune response.

But the gut affects the mind, and I would not be surprised if for some anxiety was a very early precursor of IBD. But this would not be a causal relation, but rather both the anxiety and the immune dysfunction related to the gut microbes.

More generally, I think this kind of speculation is useful for scientists - but not patients. It invites a blame the self mentality. We are not responsible for our disease.

Yes, general anxiety disorder but it's only triggered by certain events. Such one of my kids coming home late. Or my husband doesn't call etc. I have no fear of public speaking, being in crowds, meeting new people or going to unknown events and parties.

Source?

Study details? Sample size? Methodology? Date published?

That must be old info that you posted. UC used to be considered a mental disorder but all that has been disproven by science over the years. Saying UC is caused by personality traits is insulting and archaic.

I have never suffered from depression. Never had a panic attack or experienced anxiety (unless you count bathroom anxiety) and I have to do a lot of public speaking. Emotionally immature....well, I think we all have to work on that to some degree. We are all evolving creatures.

Lots of famous people throughout history may have had IBD include Darwin in JFK. I would like to think that they were as emotionally immature as the next person but still accomplished great things.

I must be in the 16% without these traits. But I do not believe this statistic in the least, it a way to blame people who get UC, it must be their fault because they are anxious or introverted or emotionally immature or obsessive.

I was very successful in my career, healthy, optimistic, happy. My personality had zero to do with my getting UC and I resent anyone who would try and pin it on that. Oh yes, add opinionated to my personality ha.

People that don't have any type of IBD also have those very same personality traits...grain of salt.

brucen36 said...
What are some examples of being emotionally immature?

The individual who is emotionally immature finds it difficult to deal with their own feelings.

I never said we should blame ourselves and I never said that personality traits are responsible for UC.

While I was in the hospital there were a couple of people with UC there. I was the youngest person there. There was a girl there who is a year older than me. She never talked to anyone, stayed in her room most of the time. She never went to the canteen to eat. He mother was there very often. I just saw her go to the bathroom and that was it. She was obviously a quiet person.

The man who was in the same room as me (in his late 50s) a lot of the times didn't stood up for himself. He is extraverted and likes to talk A LOT, he was positive most of the time, but when someone said something he didn't like, he proceded to ruminate over this for the next 10 minutes. He was obviously prone to holding emotions to himself. He talked to his wife over the phone, she wanted to visit him more often, but he convinced her it is not necessary. I could feel that he was sad that she doesn't come. And yet this man doesn't consider himself an introvert or a person having some problems.

I'm sure the majority of uc patients are right handed and have dark hair, but those aren't risk factors for uc.

Being fair skinned, blonde and blue-eyed can be indicators because Northern Europeans have the highest incidence of IBD, especially Irish genes. When I first met my primary doc and told him I had UC he said I looked like the poster child for it based on my looks. Red-heads may be even higher incidence than blondes.

I am not saying these personality traits cause it. People with these traits may have more stress in their lives and they also handle it in certain ways (holding it in), which is a factor.

I've read that there was an explosion of IBD incidence after WW2 and also in Yugoslavia (after the Yugoslav wars).