The campaign has gained significant traction onInstagramandFacebook.
Ithas been praisedby health and marketing experts for its humorous handling of a taboo topic.
What is parcopresis?
It’s okay to poop, declares a new health campaign.© Marcel Derweduwen/Shutterstock
Other factors, such as past negative experiences or accessibility challenges, may also play a role.
They may experience ongoing worry about situations where they may need to use a public toilet.
Living with parcopresis can affect multiple domains of life and quality of life overall.
Some people may feel uncomfortable about using the toilet at work.
For example, sufferers may have difficulties relating to employment, relationships and social life.
They might avoid travelling or attending certain events because of their symptoms.
How common is parcopresis?
We dont really know how common parcopresis is, partly due to the difficulty of evaluating this behaviour.
Also, observing individual bathroom activities may alter the persons behaviour.
Iconducted a studyto take a stab at better understand how common parcopresis is.
The study involved 714 university students.
I asked participants to respond to a series of vignettes, or scenarios.
Each vignette differed by the configuration of stalls available.
The rate of avoidance was just over 14% overall.
But participants were more likely to avoid using the toilet when the other stalls were occupied.
Around 10% avoided going when all toilets were available.
This rose to around 25% when only the middle of three toilets was available.
Men were significantly less likely to avoid going than women across all vignettes.
This may particularly apply to people with a gastrointestinal condition.
Reducing restroom anxiety
Using a public toilet can understandably cause some anxiety or be unpleasant.
This might include cognitive behavioural therapy.
Simon Robert Knowlesis an associate professor and clinical psychologist atSwinburne University of Technology.
This article is republished fromThe Conversationunder a Creative Commons license.
News from the future, delivered to your present.
