I have a question about an icky subject, sorry if it bothers you! Since I was little I've had an issue similar to incontinence but no doctor could explain why it happened or how to solve it. It got a little better when I was around 16yo but it's still not 100% & I'm 21 now. Now I got diagnosed as autistic & learned more about stuff I struggle with like executive dysfunction & alexithymia & I was wondering it they could be related? Idk if other autistic people struggled with something similar
Ask date: September 15th
First, no subject bothers me. My blog is for autistics to come and talk about EVERYTHING we deal with, including every biological and health issue. We need this, because where else are we going to talk about these things? All questions are always welcome <3
So my knee-jerk reaction was to say “yes, I can totally see autism affecting this”, and then I went looking for proof and found some really useful stuff.
There was a small study (only 35 people) that found a higher rate of incontinence among autistics vs non-autistics:
“Relatively little is known about bladder and bowel dysfunction (BBD) among adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)....Urinary incontinence was present in 85% of children and 82% of adults with ASD versus just 5.7% of [non-autistic] controls. Nocturnal enuresis, fecal incontinence, and constipation were also common, impacting 59%, 36%, and 68%, respectively, of adults with ASD (vs 0%, 0%, and 9%, respectively, of [non-autistic] controls).”
That paragraph is kind of a blob of words and numbers so I made a chart out of the info in it:
This study clearly shows that yes, autism affects this, and in a big way. Unfortunately, the study only showed that autism affects incontinence, it didn’t look into why.
I think your theory about alexithymia and executive dysfunction could absolutely be part of it. I know that I, personally, struggle with “knowing when I have to go.” Very often I’ve had to go for a LONG time before I realize I need the bathroom, and this has caused some accidents for me.
I’ve struggled with this a bit myself, and I understand your frustration. Having doctors be like “Welp we don’t know why, have a nice day” is really frustrating, because of course you want to fix it!.
The best advice I have with this is to “take a body inventory” more often. A body inventory is when you stop doing everything, and go through your body: 1) Am I hungry? 2) Am I thirsty? 3) Do I need the bathroom? 4) Am I hot/cold?
If you find it hard to get into the habit, set an alarm on your phone! I’ve gotten into the habit of doing a body inventory every time I stand up, and also when I’m stressed out (so often, it turns out my lack of concentration was just because I was parched, lol).
It doesn’t fix the entire problem, but it helps me avoid those situations where I’ve had to pee for like, two hours and have been ignoring it. Your body will thank you, for sure.
