My doctor prescribed an antidepressant to treat my IBS, does that mean I have a psychological disorder?

My doctor prescribed an antidepressant to treat my IBS, does that mean I have a psychological disorder?

Lin Chang (UCLA Division of Digestive Diseases) gives expert video advice on: How is IBS diagnosed?; Can my family doctor diagnose IBS or do I need to see a specialist?; What symptoms lead to a possible diagnosis of IBS? and more...

Psychological symptoms are not predominant in every patient with IBS. It's more common in patients with severe cases of IBS. But antidepressants are often prescribed for the treatment of IBS because not only can they help associate it with psychological stress that can be associated with the condition, but they have also been shown to decrease pain, and also normalize some of the bowel symptoms. So they work directly on the brain-gut mechanisms that seem to be altered or deregulated in IBS, and it's not specifically for only mood.