Anxiety vs Bowel Movement (recognition)
I've been diagnosed with GAD and also have stomach issues and I tend to confuse needing to poo with the feeling of being anxious, and it's hard to tell if one causes the other, etc.
Also, now that I'm aware of this, I picked up on people telling me I seem nervous (i.e. stimming or doing tics, being restless) and I didn't realize it because I only "know/think" I'm nervous when I have to use the bathroom, at which time I may not really be nervous at all.
My mom gets angry when I take medication for anxiety when I have to go to the bathroom, say it doesn't work, and then go to the bathroom and I'm not "anxious" anymore.
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Diagnosed with Aspergers, ADHD, Bipolar Type II, OCD, and generalized anxiety.
Stress can cause me to have to go for a poo. If it's a fight/flight reflex it goes faster. As I calm down again the urge to go subsides. If it's something anticipated the stress gets hold of my guts and the closer it gets to the anticipated event, the more likely I will not be able to do whatever it is without having had a poo first.
Your guts are lined with neurotransmitters and send chemicals to your brain rather than the other way around
It's reassuring to me to know I'm not the only person to experience the sensation of needing to defecate as anxiety and mood swings. Sorry to hear about how your mom is taking it - in my experience the anxiety is as real as any other feeling and I have no easy way to know where it is coming from. I'm almost 58 and through my life the first inkling I get that I need to use the bathroom is big mood swings, great mental pressure, and anxiety. It's not primarily psychological in origin in my case - I have cerebellar dysplasia in addition to being autistic and that mixes my senses together. Some autistic people get forms of synesthesia where color, sounds, letters, etc. get mixed as well. Beyond the the need to defecate showing up initially as strong anxiety and mood disturbance, I find a bigger problem to be my near inability to describe physical pain or other conditions. It is one aspect of alexithymia, which is not uncommon in autistics. Over the years I've nearly died several times when serious but easily treatable illnesses (like complete thyroid failure, TB) progressed really far and became life-threatening before I finally ended up in the emergency room.
Do you experience a general difficulty in identifying and describing feeling pain or discomfort? Or is it more strictly that you perceive the need to defecate as anxiety?
I wish I could suggest solutions. I have a doctor now who knows I'm autistic and that I have big challenges in describing how I feel, and that has been helpful. My moods change dramatically according to my body sensations, whether I'm indoors or outdoors, slight changes in air temperature or lighting, ambient noise... Knowing that the anxiety comes when I'm going to need to poo soon may be helpful in a larger sense, but when that anxiety hits, it is the same as any other anxiety and is just as unpleasant.
ASPartOfMe
Veteran

Joined: 25 Aug 2013
Age: 67
Gender: Male
Posts: 37,318
Location: Long Island, New York
It is bad when you are not near facilities when you have an urge, because that creates anxiety which increase the urge.
I have this issue with pee also
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Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity
It is Autism Acceptance Month.
“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman
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