Tempests In The Tummy
Many parents have experienced their child waking up one morning and complaining about having a tummy ache. Most parents recall being a child and telling their parent one morning about the tummy ache they were having that would require staying home from school. I personally remember experiencing belly pain so severe that I left the bus stop, walked home, and informed my mom that I had to go to the doctor because my tummy hurt so much. In my case, this pain no doubt had something to do with my desire to escape having to give a book report in front of the class on a book I had never read!
It would be easy to say that I was “faking it”; that such stomach and general digestive discomfort is not real or that the pain is “all in your head.” But the link between digestive distress and emotional states is most definitely a “real” ache even when factors generating it include strong emotional drivers. The connection between our gut, our brain, and our emotions is extremely old.
Evolution’s earliest creatures needed to take in nutrients and release toxins. This is among the most basic functions of living creatures. Across the billions of years of evolution, the means by which life accomplished this task – taking in the good and releasing the bad – became increasingly sophisticated. Eventually, brains developed emotions, which helped creatures to determine what was most important to preserve life; what to do first from among a set of choices. If I feel nervous, I might back away. If something generated excitement, I might move toward it. If I was hungry, emotional states would prompt me to search for food or alternatively, if I sensed something was looking my way with hungry eyes, leaving me scared, I would feel emotions that would kick in my ability to run like the wind.
The Second Brain
Emotional states are intimately linked to how well our digestive system’s function, and vice versa, which is a sobering truth captured in the title of Michael Gershon, MD’s well-known book, The Second Brain. In it he informs us that only the brain in our skull has more nerve tissue in it, than does the second brain in our gut. The collection of billions of nerve cells in our digestive tract is called the Enteric Nervous System, or ENS for short. This gut-brainmind connection is critically important to our health and is reflected in common sayings like: “That made my stomach do somersaults”; “It hit me like a kick to the gut”; “I have butterflies in my tummy”; or, “That scared to poop out of me”! Gut sensations do more than carry information about hunger. They are an important source of intuition, a source of inner knowing, and a potential resource for guiding us to comfort, calm, and control.
Adults have great facility with language to express their concerns. Children, lacking the same linguistic sophistication, often express through their bodies what they may have trouble expressing with their words. Especially when children are facing crises, whether acute crises like a flood that destroys a home or chronic crises like poverty, various forms of abuse, or disease, their distress is often expressed through their bodies with changes to gut functioning such as pain, nausea, diarrhea, or constipation.
At times and in places where children are exposed to emotional, physical, and social distress, the ability to self-soothe and find sources of comfort is essential to supporting children’s well-being, thereby reducing the longerterm health risks associated with chronic exposure, to such adverse childhood experiences (ACE’s).
The Impact Stress/Anxiety On The Gastrointestinal Tract
Stress negatively impacts the gastrointestinal (GI) tract by altering digestion, increasing visceral sensitivity, and affecting the gut microbiome. This can manifest as digestive discomfort, changes in bowel habits, and potentially lead to chronic GI disorders like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Altered Digestion: Stress can trigger the body's fight-or-flight response, which slows down digestion and can cause symptoms like nausea, vomiting, bloating, and diarrhea.
Increased Visceral Sensitivity: Stress can increase the sensitivity of the GI tract, making individuals more prone to experiencing pain and discomfort from normal digestive processes.
Changes in Gut Microbiome: Stress can alter the composition of gut bacteria, which may contribute to inflammation and impact overall gut health.
Impact on GI Disorders: Chronic stress can worsen existing GI conditions like IBS, and may contribute to the development of other disorders.
Other Symptoms: Stress can also lead to other digestive issues like acid reflux, heartburn, and appetite changes.
Helping To Heal The Gut Brain Connection
This is where Mental Wellness Innovation’s Feel Better Packs represent an important, accessible, and effective tool for inexpensively supporting children around the world. Children can rarely control the world around them but Feel Better Packs provide children a means by which they can gain influence, inner control (or self-regulatory skills), and a sense of comfort and relative safety.
Calming and rebalancing the nervous system by using mind/body skills, is what the Feel Better Packs are all about! Less stress means better gastrointestinal tract function, and less stomach aches.
Mental Wellness Innovations (MWI) was launched to bring sources of relief, comfort, resilience, and mental health support to children around the world affected by natural disasters, financial or food impoverishment, and various forms of trauma experienced by children.
To learn more about how you can help, contact www.mentalwellnessinnovations.org.
We look forward to your involvement and engagement.