FAQ: Does stress cause inflammatory bowel disease

No. IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) is an inflammation of unknown cause but the majority of evidence does not point to stress as a cause.

Occasionally people with ulcerative colitis can link relapses to episodes of stress but mostly over time the general trend seems to be that most relapses occur without any obvious precipitating factor

Some possible triggers are a gastroenteritis infection and recent antbiotic use