Your Brain and Your Gut Are Not Separate Patients

Why treating functional GI disorders requires a whole-system approach.

Imagine two physicians sit in adjacent offices. One treats the mind — anxiety, stress, the relentless hum of a nervous system that never quite switches off. The other treats the body—bloating, cramping, the unpredictable rhythms of a bowel that follows no schedule. Their patients often share the same waiting room. Sometimes, they are the same person. And for too long, these two physicians have barely spoken.