Why does the urge to go to the bathroom increase when we get home?
Why does the urge to go to the bathroom increase when we get home?
For example, when I'm at work I don't feel like it, or if I do I can hold it back without any problem, but when I get home the urge seems to be uncontrollable and impossible to hold back.
I remember there was actually a scientific article written about this. If I recall, it’s something about your brain/subconscious knowing that you are close to a toilet
It's not just about being close to any toilet though, specifically the one at home is different. Coming home from a trip and I'll need to go to the bathroom even though I've had plenty of good access the whole time.
It probably has something to do with the guarantee of access mixed with the urgency and relaxed retention that comes with being in a comfortable environment. It’s unlikely to be any one thing, but, instead, a combination of factors.
Can we use that ability to track down hidden facilities that contain a toilet (say, in the desert)?
Unfortunately this method only works if you already know where the toilet is.
Men who stare at toilets
You go when (1) biologically needed, and (2) it is convenient.
Stress hormones suppress the desire at work but at home you feel relaxed 😎.
Trouble is I'm stressed when I'm rushing home because there's trouble brewing in my colon.
But in that case, wouldn't you be as equally stressed if that happened while at work?
ok so i just need to check out Slack and i can (and pretty much will have to) hold it for next hour or so
Because you subconsciously recognise that you have entered your territory, therefore you must mark it.
Edit : I have no idea, this is a good question btw.
Latchkey Incontinence
https://www.incontinence.co.uk/are-you-silently-suffering-from-latchkey-incontinence
Also colloquially known as “ass radar”
Certainly the "uncontrollable" part seems to match, at least.
presumably you instinctively know that you're in a wholly safe place and there is no excuse not to do it anymore. We're really not made to suppress elimination for a long time like that, in nature the only reason not to get the business done is because you gotta walk away from camp or because you're chased by a lion, and neither of those tend to take a long time..
we should really be glad we're at all able to hold it in as long as we do
Butthole detects proximity to safe toilet.
i call this my bgps in the car so my kids have no idea what im talking about.
"Honey the bgps is engaged, buckle up"
Familiarity breeds continence.
The Joann Fabric and Crafts near me stopped offering a restroom to customers during Covid and never went back (understandable). But knowing that I can’t go while I’m there has created a situation where nothing makes me need to take a shit more urgently than browsing fabric and craft supplies. Luckily there is a Target next door.
This isn't too hard to explain based on everything I know about human behaviour. Your brain has probably just carved a very big pathway in it for all the times you've pooped in your own home. You can associate anything that rewards your body with endorphins with anything else that provides a strong memory or reaction. See pavlov
Cuz you know there's a bathroom there and it's a safe one.
Having stress related bowel issues, I can assure you that you are in luck that it works that way for you and not the other way around like it seems to work for me.
Availability. You're more likely to go potty when there's a toilet, you're more likely to eat when there's food, etc.
Probably as simple as muscle memory.
I've observed this multiple times with number 1.
As to anyone, it has happened to me many times over the course of my life, that after having to hold it for too long, the last minutes, seconds, end up a total rush against the time. There's always this dramatic arc of making it just for the last second.
But I asked myself: if the urgency was merely function of the continuous kidney/bladder function then statistically, why would I almost always make it just by the lastest milisecond, and I would certainly lose the battle if my bathroom was 2 cm further. Clearly this is risky, esp. considering that sometimes things happen like the bathroom happens to be occupied or you can't find your key or your zipper is stuck or something dumb, robbing you of that critical few seconds.
I've learned that to save myself from the unnecessary drama and rush, I can actually sort of convince myself that there is extra, say 10m between me and my bathroom. Just try to "lie" to my body a bit, about how far the right place is, or make up some vague extra steps as necessary to enable truly safe disposal. And it almost always gives me an extra few minutes.
It's certainly one of those things when the signaling around the body is much more strategic than we would think.
I just pretent that home is actually still hours away and this is just a short stop somewhere. Usually works...
