Others tremble when they are nervous, but I want to go to the toilet when I am nervous

It has been ten years since Tadpole took the college entrance examination. I don’t have any good experience to share. I can only wish everyone to “have a good shit”.

"Pooping well" is really important (especially for those students who want to go to the toilet when they are nervous). I still remember that Tadpole's classmate went out to the toilet in the middle of the exam, which wasted a lot of exam time.

So why do we do this? Is there any way to solve it?

Fight or Flight

It's very simple, because we have encountered something. In addition to the college entrance examination, there are many kinds of things, personal, family and friends, life, study, work... and the brain's classification method is very simple and crude: one thing is either insignificant or it will affect survival.

When encountering the latter type of event, the hypothalamus immediately becomes active and regulates physiological activities in two ways. First, it activates the sympathetic nervous system, which makes our heart beat faster, our breathing shallow and rapid, our pupils dilate, and our bladder detrusor contract; second, it releases cortisol, which, on the one hand, drives more sugar into the blood, and on the other hand, regulates the digestive system, for example, slowing down intestinal peristalsis.

Sympathetic nerves

If the human body is compared to a mobile phone, the sympathetic nerves and cortisol are equivalent to the hands that swipe the phone. They display the most important things on the screen, hoping that we can give our full attention to them; correspondingly, all the things that seem unimportant at the moment are put in the background to save energy.

So, what's in the bladder? Urine. What happens when the bladder contracts? The urge to urinate makes you run to the toilet.

Guts and Brains

Stress is a relatively objective thing, caused by external events. Once the problem is resolved, the stress will pass. However, our response to stress is more subjective and may persist forever.

Specifically, there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between stressful events and our performance. If things are too small, we will feel bored; if things are too big, we are prone to emotional problems, such as anxiety, depression, and fear; and within a certain range, stress can make us perform at our best.

Pressure and performance

If negative emotions persist for a long time, the sympathetic nerves and cortisol will be active for a long time, and the digestive system will be neglected. Think about our lives. If we often put other things aside for urgent tasks, those seemingly insignificant things will sooner or later accumulate and become a big problem. Things on the physiological level are similar: the digestive system is suppressed for a long time, which may affect digestion at the least, affect intestinal flora at the worst, and even more seriously, may endanger intestinal function and cause constipation or diarrhea.

This is true not only for humans, but also for monkeys: Studies have shown that nervous monkeys are more likely to suffer from chronic diarrhea. This is why experts always recommend not to think about things while eating or scold children.

More serious consequences

What if it's more serious?

There may be obvious diseases in the intestines, such as irritable bowel syndrome. "Irritable" means easily excited. The slightest disturbance will cause the stomach to make rumbling sounds and pain, and the patient will want to run to the toilet. After running to the toilet, the patient may have diarrhea or may not be able to defecate (constipation). Even if the patient squats until his legs are numb, the patient often feels that the bowel movement is not complete. In severe cases, the patient may have to go to the toilet more than ten times a day. The stool is also different from that of normal people, and it looks like the patient has a stomach upset.

When doctors treat this disease, in addition to intestinal medications, they sometimes prescribe antidepressants. Some patients may not understand why they prescribe seemingly useless drugs when it is clearly a problem with the intestines. In fact, antidepressants are very effective for irritable bowel syndrome.

Studies in recent years have shown that inflammatory bowel diseases, such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, may also be related to emotions.

Ulcerative colitis affects the lining of the large intestine, causing blood in the stool. If it persists for a long time, it can increase the risk of colon cancer.

Crohn's disease is even more special. It also damages the mucous membrane, but the damage is jumpy, with a piece here and a piece there, sometimes even affecting the skin, eyes, mouth and other parts. In severe cases, patients will have intestinal perforation or intestinal obstruction (intestinal blockage), which affects both eating and defecation.

Intestinal disease comparison

What can we do?

So, the next question is: What should we do?

Most importantly, understand the indicators for seeking medical attention. Running to the bathroom when you are nervous may not be a problem. If you have a fever, severe abdominal pain, or mucus or blood in your stool, or if you have signs of severe dehydration, such as dizziness or decreased urine output, you must go to the hospital as soon as possible.

Secondly, learn to distinguish between stress and anxiety. Stress is neutral, and the way you deal with it determines the outcome of things. It is normal to be nervous about exams. Not only high school students, but also college students and adults cannot avoid it. As mentioned earlier, there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between stress and performance. In many cases, stress will not affect, and may even allow us to perform at our best. Studies on middle school students show that anxiety does not affect listening scores.

Finally, master some emotional first aid techniques.

Physiology, psychology, and behavior form a triangle relationship. Changing one of them can affect the other two. For example, drinking coffee can temporarily boost your spirits, but in the long run, it will lead to mental exhaustion. Studies have shown that drinking chamomile tea can help improve your mood. For another example, depression can lead to a decrease in vitality and a lack of energy to do anything. Recent studies have shown that exercising for half an hour can reduce depression to a certain extent.

Ways to improve your mood

In short, "running to the toilet when nervous" seems very common, but it actually involves many things.

The college entrance examination will test a student's understanding of high school knowledge; whether one can pay attention to various signals and treat oneself well is the ultimate test of life for us.

Finally, I wish every candidate can get good results.

References

[1] DK Publishing, UK. Stress Psychology [M/OL]. Publishing House of Electronics Industry, 2019[2022–05–23]. https://book.douban.com/subject/34441929/.

[2] Julia Enders. The Little Thoughts of the Intestines[M/OL]. Translated by Qian Wei. Jiangsu Phoenix Science and Technology Press, 2016[2022–05–23]. https://book.douban.com/subject/26706730/.

[3] GOTTLIEB DH, DEL ROSSO L, SHEIKHI F, et al. Personality, environmental stressors, and diarrhea in rhesus macaques: an interactionist perspective[J]. American Journal of Primatology, 2018, 80(12): e22908. DOI:10.1002/ajp.22908.

[4] Anonymous. Internal Medicine (9th Edition) [M/OL]. People's Medical Publishing House, [Unknown date][2022–05–23]. https://book.douban.com/subject/30460510/.

[5] Zhang X, Li XW, Fan X, et al. Analysis of mental health status and influencing factors of medical students during examinations[J]. Journal of China Medical University, 2019, 48(07): 629–632.

[6] Li Lin. Factor composition of test anxiety and its relationship with high school students’ English listening performance [D/OL]. Qufu Normal University, 2019 [2022–05–23]. https://kns.cnki.net/kcms/detail/detail.aspx?dbcode=CMFD&dbname=CMFD202001&filename=1019208667.nh&uniplatform=NZKPT&v=tJaVne56IN8HFiDxp_If4AkT_eUzEZTi3V-Qk--Pw1_E3I9FtBCTjKX2Haik7SyX.

[7] MEYER JD, MURRAY TA, BROWER CS, et al. Magnitude, timing and duration of mood state and cognitive effects of acute moderate exercise in major depressive disorder[J]. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 2022, 61: 102172. DOI:10.1016/j.psychsport.2022.102172.

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