Anxiety as the root cause: anyone with the same issue?

[dpas89]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this forum. I found it while looking for some solution to deal with my issue.
Specifically I don't always have incontinence but in case of stress ("psychosomatic" symptoms):
- at night: when having accumulated stress (and worse if I drank 1-2 glasses of water/anything before sleep)
- during the day: when under pressure or when in a hurry/ in a place without toilette (which sometimes is really a nightmare)... it can happen in seconds, sudden urgency to go to toilet

This issue affects my life every day, especially when travelling and I found no definitive solution to cope with the consequences, nor with prevention (specially when traveling).

Anyone with similar inconvenient? Any advice?
Thank you

[Patrick]

Incontinence can be a self-energizing cycle. An accident causes stress, and, the more you surrender to that stress, the more likely you are to have another accident. It is bad enough with urinary incontinence; it can be far worse with fecal incontinence. A soiling accident in public can cause panic that lasts long after the clean-up. My security blankets are the well-stocked gym/diaper bag I keep handy at all times, and a running tally of all the handicapped/family/unisex toilets on my usual haunts when I'm out and about.

[Inconinmiss]

I agree with Patrick. The fear of having a urinary or bowel accident is an incredible source of stress. I know from personal experience. Wearing a diaper has been an incredible source of peace of mind for me and for many other people on this forum. People who are new to wearing diapers almost always worry that other people will see the diaper bulge in the seat of their pants and know what it is. However, as most of us who have been wearing for a long time have discovered, apparently almost nobody ever notices. The fact that someone might be wearing a diaper isn't something most continent people ever think about. And even if someone did notice, noticing that you're wearing a diaper is a lot less embarrassing for you than noticing that you had wet or soiled your pants.

[MikeJames]

I really don't buy the "stress/anxiety" cause of incon. My urologist immediately dismissed it when I mentioned it and I only mentioned it bc I have a very stressful job and a moderate anxiety problem. He told me, and I tend to agree, that incon/bedwetting is usually only caused by "stress" when there's trauma and mostly only in children/teens. Abused kids, kids whose parents just died, kids whose parents just divorced etc.

My anxiety ebbs and flows. It peaked about 7 years ago and I thought I was having a nervous breakdown. That resolved and went away and I've been fine since. My incon didn't start until last year. If "anxiety" was the cause it would have surfaced then because I honestly can't imagine feeling anxiety on a more severe level than where I was at that time.

[Puffy Pants]

Welcome dpas89, advice is to find good, trustworthy protection! That can take time! Lots of good info on here though, Puffy