[Ulcerative colitis and Crohn disease from the psychosomatic viewpoint].

Ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease in childhood and adolescence are discussed from the psychosomatic point of view. To our up-to-date knowledge the psychic determinant is not a necessary but a promoting factor within the multifactorial aethiology. Premorbid conflict situations are described, which overstrain the physical and psychic endurance of the young patients and thus endanger an adequate adjustment to the illness. Since there have not been any control studies, there is no proof of advantageous effects of psychotherapy on the course of disease in children and adolescents. Up to now there are only a few positive case reports available. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that proper psychological care aids convalescence.