‘Pee anxiety’: The common and potentially dangerous bathroom habit

Your urination habits say a lot about your overall health. The frequency – too much or not enough – of your pee, its smell and colour could be impacted by various factors. One of the bathroom habits you need to pay closer attention to is the need to urinate even if your bladder isn’t full. You could be experiencing a condition known as Overactive bladder or pee anxiety, a condition that American celebrity Kim Kardashian disclosed she suffers from.

What is an overactive bladder?

Anxiety and stress can cause you to feel like you need to urinate or that you might have to pee at a time when you don’t have immediate access to a bathroom. An article on WebMD describes overactive bladder (OAB) as the ‘gotta go now’ feeling:

You have the urge to pee even though your bladder isn’t full. OAB can lead to a condition called urinary incontinence where you leak urine.

OAB takes two forms; dry, where you have the sudden, urgent need to urinate many times during the day; or wet – when you get a sudden urge to go to the bathroom, but you pee before you can get there. The latter is also known as called urge incontinence.

Symptoms may include bladder spasms, involuntary peeing and the need to go the bathroom more often or at night, according to WebMD.

Causes

You may experience pee anxiety when there’s a problem with the nerves that communicate to the brain to empty your bladder. Due to this fault, the bladder muscles tend to contract, making you run for the nearest toilet even if there’s some room in your bladder. This can be brought on by a number of factors. Dr Nick Tadros, a Urology professor tells Best Life that apart from stress and anxiety:

Some of the most common are overactive bladder, enlarged prostate (men), diabetes, urinary tract infections, [and] medications (diuretics or 'water pills')

Stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and back or pelvis surgery could trigger it too.

Sources used:

Best Life: Do You Have "Pee Anxiety"? A Doctor Explains the Condition That Even Kim Kardashian Struggles With

WebMD: Overactive bladder