Stress Becomes The Cause Of Usus, Myth, Or Fact In Infectious Diseases?

Illustration of women holding back pain (Pexels/Egin Akyurt)

JAKARTA - Misunderstanding regarding Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) disease or inflammation of the intestines is still widely spread in the community. One of them is related to claims that stress is the cause of IBD.

IBD is a chronic condition that causes inflammation of the digestive tract. This includes autoimmune conditions in which the immune system attacks healthy intestinal cells, causes long-term inflammation, wounds, pain, and repeated diarrhea.

Internal medicine specialist Prof. Dr.dr Ari Fahrial Syam, Sp.PD-KGEH, MMB, SpPD, K-GEH, FACP, FACG, said that the exact cause of the IBD has not been known to date. However, this disease is influenced by various factors, so stress claims are the cause of the IBD are myths.

"Indeed, psychological factors play a role. But it's not the main cause of direct IBD, no," said Prof Ari, during media education at the Indonesian Gastroenterological Foundation, in Kuningan, Jakarta, on Tuesday, December 9, 2025.

Stress is not a cause, but a factor that can make IBD recur. Stress experienced by a person can be caused by various things, ranging from stress of mind to lack of sleep.

"This IBD can recur due to psychological factors. This psychological factor is also not only because of the mind, because there are also patients who lack sleep, it is also a stress factor," he said.

The burden of work is quite large, the weight that must be resolved can also affect the stress of the patient. So it's not the stress that makes IBD, but this IBD can recur because of stress as the originator," he explained.

Therefore, Prof. Ari emphasized that the stress that occurs should not be underestimated, especially for IBD patients. This stress should be controlled so that it subsides and does not interfere with the recurrence of IBD disease.

"So stress should not be considered simple. Worse, stress is not controlled," concluded Prof. Ari.