What's the point of smearing your body's exretions?

[Diamonds02]

I hear stories of people smearing their pee, poop, period blood, and semen in inappropiate places. These inappropiate places include walls, floors, ceilings, and mirrors in dressing rooms and restrooms.

Why do people do this? Is this correlated with some mental illness? Is this an extreme way of marking your territory? I don't get it.

[Richard Pearse]

Art?

[Richard Pearse]

Seriously, I have no idea. You'd have to think they have an abnormal set of social skills though.

[ParentalAdvisory]

Severe mental illness.

[Broomstick]

The OP forgot the "pimple pus on rest room mirror", for those who can't wait until they get home to pop that zit.

Ewwwwwwwwwwwww....

(For some reason, I'm grossing myself out this week. Never mind, folks, nothing to see here, move along, move along...)

[Lissa]

My husband used to work in a SuperMax prison. A couple of the inmates used to strip naked and smear themselves with feces, and flood their cells. They would then refuse to come out, resulting in the officers having to go in there and get them. Hubby said it was sort of a revenge thing: they got a kick out of grossing-out the officers.

I think that when people do it in public bathrooms, it's a sort of passive-agressive "revenge" on the world at large. They feel kicked around, and so in turn, delight in the notion of another person having to deal (literally) with their shit. You see it in a lesser form in some people who dont flush.

[panache45]

Because it's fun?

[saoirse]

Because it makes the ladies want you.

[Stillwell Angel]

I used to work in the mental health field, it wasn't an everyday thing but occasionally if someone went off their meds and their symtoms escalated this was one behavior we might see.

Now I work in a nursing home and this is an everyday event, mostly among the patients who are in later stages of Alzheimer’s or other types of dementia.

[Sage Rat]

Originally Posted by Lissa

You see it in a lesser form in some people who dont flush.

Indeed, I knew a person who once bragged about having thrown up in the toilet at her parents' home and leaving it there unflushed for them.

*why are you telling me this?*

[Sam Stone]

Maybe it's some vestige of the animal impulse to mark territory? Lots of animals do this kind of stuff.

Or maybe it's just that you really, really need to write something down, and you don't have a pen. So, it's time for Mr. Poopy Finger!

[Batsinma Belfry]

In otherwise sane people, it could be a form of "destruction of property" without the risk of being arrested.

[chappachula]

slightly off topic:
For nature lovers--"Smearing" is a respectable technique for disposing of your waste in the wilderness, if you can't dig a hole to bury it. (for example, climbing mountains above the timber line.) The idea is that smearing your feces on an exposed rock surface spread it thinly enough to biodegrade quickly. But it's gotta be a very remote location in the wilderness.

[mrald]

Originally Posted by Stillwell Angel

I used to work in the mental health field, it wasn't an everyday thing but occasionally if someone went off their meds and their symtoms escalated this was one behavior we might see.

Now I work in a nursing home and this is an everyday event, mostly among the patients who are in later stages of Alzheimer’s or other types of dementia.

I also work in a bursing home and we have our share of anal obsessed residents. We call it finger painting, becuase that is the nicest way to put it I guess. One Picasso does it every night, then gets mad becuase his sheets are dirty

[Tenar]

Originally Posted by chappachula

slightly off topic:
For nature lovers--"Smearing" is a respectable technique for disposing of your waste in the wilderness, if you can't dig a hole to bury it. (for example, climbing mountains above the timber line.) The idea is that smearing your feces on an exposed rock surface spread it thinly enough to biodegrade quickly. But it's gotta be a very remote location in the wilderness.

What the hell are you supposed to smear it with? And if it's that remote, why bother? It'll go away eventually (unless you're on Mt. Everest, or something like that).