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Nature of Anger, Life Event Stress, Conflict and Defense Mechanism Among Individuals Having Peptic Ulcer: A Comparative Study

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Abstract

Peptic ulcer occurs due to the erosive action of the acid gastric juice upon an area of mucous membrane that may be presumed to have become devitalized in some way and thus to have lost its normal powers of resistance to its own enzymes. Being a psychosomatic illness various psychological factors have been found to be associated with the occurrence and/or persistence of the disease. The present study deals with the nature of anger, life event stress, conflict and defense mechanism of 30 peptic ulcer patients and 30 unaffected individuals. MANOVA and further analysis through ANOVA were computed to statistically analyse the data. The results of the study revealed that peptic ulcer patients had lower trait anger, angry temperament, anger-out and defensive function; and higher anger-in and life event stress than the individuals in the comparative group. Findings also revealed differences in needs, conflicts and defenses between the two groups. Thus it can be concluded that peptic ulcer patients may have a tendency to suppress their anger, experience significantly greater life event stress, experience a significant conflict of autonomy versus compliance along with having low defensive functioning.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry-Centre of Excellence, 7, D.L. Khan Road, Kolkata, West Bengal, 700025, India

    Pourabi Chaudhury

  2. Department of Applied Psychology, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India

    Ushri Banerjee

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  1. Pourabi Chaudhury
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  2. Ushri Banerjee
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Correspondence to Pourabi Chaudhury.

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Chaudhury, P., Banerjee, U. Nature of Anger, Life Event Stress, Conflict and Defense Mechanism Among Individuals Having Peptic Ulcer: A Comparative Study. Psychol Stud 65, 285–295 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12646-020-00559-7

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