Coping with Depression and Inflammatory Bowel Disease

The symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease began to have severe negative impacts on Blahovec’s relationships, professional work, personal hobbies, and overall lifestyle. Though she struggled with deep sadness, fear, self-doubt, and low self-esteem for a number of years, she did not seek help until she recognized that it was depression that was beginning to make visible cuts into her everyday life. She opted in to anti-depressants and several personal coping mechanisms, but those alone were not enough to help her combat both Crohn’s disease and depression.