Gastrointestinal symptoms are common in military personnel due to their special living and working environment. Notably, there is a close association between gastrointestinal symptoms and psychological conditions. Thus, it seems that psychological interventions are not only beneficial for alleviating mental stress and improving psychological health, but could also be potentially effective for preventing gastrointestinal symptoms, especially in military personnel, which could contribute to battle effectiveness. This paper aims to briefly review the prevalence and risk factors of gastrointestinal syndromes, and summarize the association of gastrointestinal syndromes with psychological conditions and possible effect of psychological interventions on the improvement of gastrointestinal syndromes, with emphasis on the evidence in military personnel from China.
