I may be an exception then for my first flare. It happened I believe when I was 6 years old. Nothing stressful in family life at the time, but I definitely was showing signs for about half a year or maybe more - diarrhea, sharp abdominal pain, vomiting. I remember going for lots of blood work at the time and I was prodded a lot to see if I had appendicitis. Had really bad luck with my teeth for a couple years too. It all just up and disappeared of its own accord. This was around 1975. Then it showed up again in '88. End of first year university, going into second. Family life still good, don't recall feeling stressed, was in great shape physically, good academics. However, that changed pretty quickly with crohn's. Happily things seem to be going well now. Recent gastroscopy indicates some inflammation in my stomach at the moment (I am on remicade and have been for 8 years or so, so I am curious to see what the biopsies show).