Breaking Bonds Irritable Bowel Syndrome

I've had IBS for several years, and have never really gotten a good grasp on it. This book helped me to do that. I felt like there are people out there who are dealing with the same thing I am, and there are stories included in the book that I totally related to. It made me feel so much better and not so alone in this condition.

I really enjoyed this book because she makes everything very understandable. She also discusses the possible links between IBS and childhood abuse, stress, foods that irritate, etc. She states that studies have shown a link between depression (or stress related disorders) and IBS. She also gives practical advice on how to cope both mentally and physically. Some suggestions may be things you have heard before, but she puts it in such a way so you can really see the benefit of doing these, that outwieghs the inconvenience. A good example is the food diary. Who wants to be bothered with doing that. I didn't...so I never have. But she makes goods points as to why you should take a few weeks out of your life to do something that would likely save you months or years of dealing with the symptoms and pains because you didn't do it. The read is light and interesting, unlike medical books tend to be. It was helpful to me, a sufferer of IBS as well as Chron's Disease.

After buying, reading and giving away many, many books on Irritable Bowel Syndrome, I was blessed to have found this one. No recipes in this one, this book makes clear the powerful correlation between IBS and anxiety, IBS and stress, IBS and depression, IBS and fear. After spending a week of increasingly severe pain accompanied by increased anxiety about the pain (or was it increasing pain about the anxiety?)and winding up in the local ER, I realized that I needed to help myself by calming myself. This book tells how. In compassionate, orderly chapters, Barbara Bolen teaches how to truly "break the bonds of IBS." Hooray for her! Hooray for all of us!

IBS can be a horrible thing to suffer with and unfortunately a lot of books written on the subject can even be worse. In my search for books on IBS I found a lot of them written by doctors to be unsympathetic and confusing. That was until I found Barbara Bradley Bolen's book on IBS. Her book was written in a clear and friendly manner and it was a pleasure to read. Also, Bolen writing was very sympathetic to the disease of IBS.One of the things I liked so much about this book was the case studies that she put in. For example when she was talking about the importance of doing a self monitoring sheet to help spot patterns in your IBS she related what she was talking about to one of her patients. It was helpful because it makes you realize that you are not alone with dealing with IBS. She also has many different activities in her book that can help you spot patterns in your IBS, as well as activities to help you calm down, cope and relieve stress. This book was very helpful in understanding, dealing with, and hopefully reducing the symptoms of IBS. I recommend this book to those that are suffering from IBS and also those who know and love somene that has it and want to understand more about what it is really like. A great buy.

As a clinical psychologist with over 20 years experience, I highly recommend Dr. Bolen's book. Dr. Bolen collates a great deal of research and general information about IBS, and then goes on to provide a number of effective, excellent techniques for managing the disorder, explained in a clear and straightforward manner. I am already using this book with several of my IBS patients and have found it to be of immense help.