While cognitive-behavioral therapy for IBS is quite effective, the limited availability of competent therapists and lack of access to treatment remain problematic. This paper reports on a small, randomized, controlled trial of a five week internet based cognitive-behavioral intervention for IBS with limited therapist feedback via e-mail. Fifty-four IBS patients were recruited via the internet and randomly assigned to either immediate treatment or a wait-list control group. Thirty-one subjects completed the post-treatment assessment. 77% of treatment completers also completed a 3-month follow-up assessment. Treatment completers experienced statistically and clinically significant declines in IBS symptoms and improvements in quality of life. Those gains were substantially maintained at follow-up. Treatment efficacy was partially mediated by reductions in the tendency to catastrophize the social and occupational implications of symptoms, suggesting that catastrophizing may be an important target for treatment.

Behav Res Ther. 2009 Sep;47(9):797-802. Epub 2009 May 20. Hunt MG, Moshier S, Milonova M. Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6241, USA. mhunt@psych.upenn.edu

We examined the effects of suggestion on Stroop interference in highly suggestible individuals. Participants completed the Stroop task with and without a suggestion to perceive Stroop words as meaningless symbols. Half the participants were given this suggestion in hypnosis, and half were given the suggestion without the induction of hypnosis. Suggestion produced a significant reduction in Stroop inhibition, accounting for about 45% of the variance in Stroop responding, regardless of whether hypnosis had been induced. These findings indicate that suggestion can at least partially overcome the automaticity associated with the Stroop effect.

Psychol Sci. 2006 Feb;17(2):91-5. Raz A, Kirsch I, Pollard J, Nitkin-Kaner Y. Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and New York State Psychiatric Institute, MRI Unit in the Department of Psychiatry, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York, NY 10032, USA. ar2241@columbia.edu