#FlushTheStigma - this year's battlecry for the Crohn’s and Colitis Awareness Month. Happening throughout May, this month-long awareness campaign by the Crohn’s & Colitis Australia (CCA) aims to help raise awareness about Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis collectively called inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and encourage the 85,000 Australians diagnosed with Crohn’s and colitis to speak up and seek support now.
Part of this awareness drive is the World IBD Day, which will happen on 19 May 2019, when famous landmarks around the world will be illuminated in purple to raise awareness about Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Among the landmarks include Colosseum in Rome, Niagara Falls in the United States, and significant landmarks in each capital city and many regional areas in Australia. The 2019 World IBD Day will raise much-needed awareness for these invisible illnesses.
Just ahead of Crohn’s and Colitis Awareness Month, a new research by CCA reveals that 1 in 2 Australians living with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis experience psychological distress associated with these chronic illnesses. Many people aren’t routinely assessed and lack access to services to support their physical and mental wellbeing. It was also revealed that 50% of patients reported psychological distress, and 59% of patients agreed that having access to a mental health expert is an important part of managing their condition.
However, only 16% of patients reported being asked about their mental health by their doctor or nurse - of which 56% indicated that they would have liked to have been.
CAA Chief Executive and Associate Professor Leanne Raven says that anxiety and depression remain undiagnosed and unsupported in large numbers of patients with IBD. She added, "Most people have access to specialists for their physical health, such as gastroenterologist, but only 12% have a psychologist in their team and 11% are currently seeing a psychologist."
CCA would like to remind all those who have Crohn’s and colitis that sharing concerns about psychological wellbeing is an important step forward in treating all aspects of these diseases. “It is time to flush the stigma associated with these serious illnesses,” said Raven.
For more information, visit crohnsandcolitis.com.au.
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