Psychological Characteristics of Patients with Ulcerative Colitis and Patients with Peptic Ulcer: A Comparison

Abstract

Specificity in “psychosomatic” disease is reconsidered and a direct comparison is made of 22 patients with ulcerative colitis and 25 patients with peptic ulcer in terms of a variety of categories. Questions about the stability of the early family structure, the medical history of the patient and his family, and the relative number of other “psychosomatic” illnesses did not differentiate between the two groups. Although patients with peptic ulcer tended to come from larger families than those with ulcerative colitis, no particular position in the sibling hierarchy was characteristic for patients of either group. Significant differences were found when earliest memories and precipitating circumstances were compared. The theme of independent striving, overburden and depletion was a common feature of the emotional setting preceding the onset of a peptic ulcer, whereas the theme of rebellion versus compliance was often noted in patients with ulcerative colitis. No single theme or type of early memory was limited to one or the other disease; overlappings were common. Four cases of patients with both peptic ulcer and ulcerative colitis also are presented.