The holidays create many reasons for people to feel stressed: Buying and wrapping gifts, spending time with family, and mounting social obligations. Chances are if you’re feeling stressed about the holidays, or anything for that matter, you’re also feeling it in your digestive system. This is because the brain and the gut communicate with each other.

Going back to school is a time of excitement and anticipation. But if your child has been diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), it can also be stressful. Inflammatory bowel disease is a term used for two gastrointestinal (GI) conditions — ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease — characterized by chronic inflammation and sores in the GI tract.