Us Anxious Folk Podcast // Ep 11 - My Toilet Anxiety Story 

One of my closest friends has this problem, too. I think it is far more common than people think. We are all deeply bound by the possibility of being shamed or humiliated. Sending you so much love and warmth.

I hear you! And I have heard the exact same thing from others regarding the fear of phones/social media and being filmed and mocked. I have thoughts on that, though - firstly, it would take a pretty sad individual to share something like that for the sake of mockery, but also - these things are nothing more than a couple of seconds of fleeting entertainment that are quickly forgotten or the meaning of them lost behind memes, anyway. We live in a world where there is SO MUCH content available on every platform and if someone were to take a video of me in a vulnerable moment and share it - it says nothing about me and everything about them. Social media isn't real, at the end of the day. I hope that helps a bit - it's something I've certainly played around with in my head many times and I've come to feel so strongly about it.

@@LaurenRose. Everything you say helps. You're so helpful. Thank you so much. xx

Aww, thank you - I will keep sharing the vulnerable stuff! I think it's so important for us to connect over these things. ❤️

just at the end of the video too: I remember in 2020 I was so glad to find your channel, so thank you for talking about this and sharing!

Hey Ruth! I don't experience this to a huge degree these days (I'm pretty 'regular' now, I'm a morning pooper!). But I want you to know that I was reading some articles and it turns out that what you describe is very, very normal!! I don't think its necessarily related to IBS or anxiety - I mean, I would imagine that it is somewhat exacerbated by anxiety, but apparently the need to poop straight after eating (or even during) is due to a process called 'mass peristalsis', which is a wave of strong contractions that moves feces down the colon to the rectum. It happens about 3-4 times per day and is usually right after a meal. Totally normal, and a healthy bowel process! I would *guess* that getting anxious about it happening would probably cause it to feel more urgent and perhaps more scary maybe. I hope that wasn't too much info and that it helps - for me it seems to help to learn more about how the body works and where in the process I just need to step aside and allow my body to do its thing!

Thanks for the info! So are you saying that the mass peristalsis is part of normal digestion, but to someone with toilet anxiety/ibs it would trigger a feeling of panic, making the urge to go even worse? I don’t know if normal people who don’t have anxiety/ibs can feel those gut contractions or if they aren’t even aware of them. Like does everyone feel the urge to go after eating, but people who aren’t anxious don’t feel it so intensely? It’s hard to imagine what normal should feel like. :)

Yep that's exactly right! Contractions of the colon are totally normal, but I believe that for those of us who are anxious about it, not only are we probably more sensitive to the sensations, but we also panic when we feel those sensations which probably makes them feel amplified (and makes us feel worse, on the whole). Most people I know who don't have toilet anxiety still need to rush to the toilet in the morning after breakfast or after a coffee, for example. I think we forget that so much of what we are experiencing is in fact a normal feeling, it's just that we attach so much extra meaning to it and therefore so much extra stress on our nervous system.

Thank you so much! That’s really helpful for me and I appreciate it so much💓💓 I’ll be starting cognitive behavioral therapy soon, so I will take this info to the appointment. 😊