Represser-Sensitizers with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
The term Repressor-Sensitizer is a psychological term used to describe a certain kind of reaction to the discovery of symptoms or of illness. This kind of person, and I’m one, is accustomed to just keeping on keeping on, just hanging in there and getting it done. Until, that is, she or he notices signs of illness, or a usual test produces unusual results, or the doctor sends the person for a lot of dramatically invasive tests.
Then the ability to ignore small physical things that are not quite right goes out the window. Every shift and change in physical functioning gets noticed, felt strongly, and worried about. This is the shift from repressing bodily discomfort to becoming sensitized to every twinge–in your inner ear, in your kidney, and, of course, in your intestines.
I want to introduce the term ‘repressor-sensitizer’ in advance of a discussion next week of two very recent high-profile articles in the medical journal Gut. I think it helps to have the main term I’m going to use clearly in mind before reading my critiques of the Gut articles.
[…] That information reduces my sense of panic; this is an illustration of what I said a few days ago about Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and repression-sensitization. (Yes, I know “represser” is misspelled; it should be “repressor.”) I wasn’t worried about the order being fulfilled when I sent it last Wednesday, because there was still plenty of time left. I “repressed” any worry. Then I got the notice five days later that the fulfillment people for Align ™ were only now getting around to sending out the order. I immediately “sensitized;” taking care of this / blogging about it shifted to the highest priority. […]
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