Psychological factors in ulcerative colitis.

Almost 50 years ago ulcerative colitis was included among the seven classical psychosomatic diseases. The psychodynamics and personality structures specific to ulcerative colitis sufferers were sought and the main-stay of treatment was psychotherapy. However, for the past decade the psychogenic approach to this disorder has been replaced by physiological and immunological explanations and treatments. The history of medical and psychogenic explanations and treatments of ulcerative colitis has been traced to the present. Ulcerative colitis remains a "riddle," as it was described almost 50 years ago, a complex disorder whose pattern is to flare up and subside, its cause and cure still unknown despite almost 100 years of study.