Relieving Constipation

By Relieving Stress

On relieving constipation, there has been much emphasis on physical problems. An important cause that is often overlooked is our emotions.

The number one stress in my life is work. On days when the workload is heavy and difficult, rest assured I delayed my early morning bowel movements to late evening. Sometimes, none for very, very stressful days.

I notice that my bowel movements improve tremendously from a few times weekly to at least once a day since I incorporate more relaxation rituals into my lifestyle. More on the details later.

Observe your emotional well-being and see how is it related to your bowel movements. Try for instance, travelling to a place where the toilet condition is not pleasant. :-) You will know exactly what I mean.

Emotional Mechanism

My intestine needs to contract in the right amount of frequency in order to expel gas and stool. There are two guys from the nervous system who supervise the contraction: *One guy (1) will make the intestine contract less when he senses that I am stressed; *The other guy (2) will make the intestine contract more when I am relaxed.

So, if I am stressed most of the time, my intestine works less, meaning it doesn't push stools out of my body. On the other hand, if I am relaxed most of the time, my intestine is happy to work more to push stools out.

The Dark Side

Yes, stress and constipation can be related. I read about a woman who becomes constipated at a time when she was finalizing her divorce. Unfortunately, her doctor was unaware of her domestic problem and prescribed laxatives when what she really needed was comforting words.

A doctor observes history of sexual abuse "with unusual frequency" among chronically constipated patients. Apparently, this doctor noted a relation between constipation and depression.

I don't want to simply tell these traumatised folks that life is too short to stress yourselves to the point of constipation. We need more INFORMED and EMPATHETIC people out there to render emotional support : heal the heart then heal the gut.

*If you are curious about the jargon,

(1) Sympathetic nervous system which decreases peristalsis.

(2) Parasympathetic nervous system which increases peristalsis.

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