Self image

Some highlights from the article are " find that the best way to develop this indifference is to repeatedly tell myself that It's OK for my stomach to make noises, no matter the time or place." By thinking, in the past, that it was not OK, what I was doing was taking responsibility for something that I had no control over, which does not make sense and, above all, is a waste of energy.If you really want to live fully in spite of IBS, you have to develop the kind of confidence that is boosted, not shattered by ignorant reactions. In other words, you have to learn to "respond intelligently, even to unintelligent treatment." A tactic that I find really effective is mirroring. That is, whatever reaction I get from people, I mirror it back. For example, if someone stares, I stare back at them in exactly the same way; if someone laughs at my stomach, I laugh along with them. If I am not in the mood to 'mirror' I tend to phase out people's reactions completely (difficult but not impossible).The main point is to stop holding yourself accountable for having IBS and instead, start recognising how strong you are to be coping with it day after day. Direct this strength towards facing your fears instead of running from them. The truth is that nothing can happen that will make you any less than anybody else, even if society makes you feel otherwise""It is also important to be conscious of how you see yourself as an IBS sufferer. Many of us feel that we are socially unacceptable, which is giving the wrong message to ourselves as well as non-sufferers. IBS is said to affect at least one in ten people, yet one of the most common psychological complaints from sufferers is a feeling of isolation.It may seem like a harsh statement, but for each sufferer, who through embarrassment or even shame isolates him/herself socially, he/she perpetuates the ignorance of non-sufferers thus reinforcing the 'unaccepting' conditions which face fellow sufferers. My point in saying this is not to place blame, but to highlight the importance of collective action. Social acceptability is something we must gain together. If we wait for non-sufferers to make us feel acceptable, my guess is that we will be waiting, at best, a very long time.What is important is how we ourselves view our symptoms. The fact is, that many of us are ashamed to have IBS and would go to any lengths to conceal our condition. In so doing we mentally pre-condition our own acceptability, and validate the negative attitudes that we experience outside. I believe that if we were not so ashamed of our symptoms, we would be in a much better position to challenge rather than justify our unacceptability."Also I agree with Joan that we should not lame ourselves. It is not our fault. It is an illness like any other- heart disease or diabetes. We wouldn't feel shame if we had thoiose conditions. Nor should we feel ashamed of IBS, leaky gas whatever. It is not like it is in our control.