# Why does one seem to get less "bathroom warning" at home than in public? (Possible TMI) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 5, 2022, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-one-seem-to-get-less-bathroom-warning-at-home-than-in-public-possible-tmi/967430 "2022-07-05T02:26:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2022, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-one-seem-to-get-less-bathroom-warning-at-home-than-in-public-possible-tmi/967430/1 "2022-07-05T02:26:04Z")
I’m not sure if this is really a Factual Question or not, but it seems to be the case for me. Is it just me, or other people, too? At home, my body gives me a mere minute’s warning sometimes that I need to go to the restroom, but while we’re driving, I can usually hold it for a considerable amount of time before it becomes an emergency. Whassupwidat? Gimme the Straight Dope, please. ---
**Author:** ![Tabco](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tabco/32/7644_2.png) [@Tabco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabco)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2022, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-one-seem-to-get-less-bathroom-warning-at-home-than-in-public-possible-tmi/967430/2 "2022-07-05T04:23:43Z")
In 6th grade, for Christmas, I got a book called _Grossology_ which described this phenomenon but I don’t recall it offering an explanation beyond your body reacting when you sense you’re near your familiar toilet. This article from the Atlantic attributes it to to a couple things, including a Pavlovian response: > **[There's No Toilet Like Home](https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/11/gotta-go/544544/)** > > Why coming back to a familiar environment triggers a sudden urge to go to the bathroom As to my personal experience, there have been times, when I’m out on a run, that I’ve felt the strong need to evacuate (shame on me for not taking care of business before I ran). The need was pressing but not _urgent_ until I was within eyesight of my front door, when it was all I could do to scramble for the toilet before messing myself. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2022, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-one-seem-to-get-less-bathroom-warning-at-home-than-in-public-possible-tmi/967430/3 "2022-07-05T05:08:38Z")
In my own experience, it’s because your brain isn’t telling you that you have to wait. One of the steps to evacuation, after getting the signal from your colon that evacuation is called for, is your mind deciding whether it is or is not socially and otherwise appropriate to evacuate at that moment, based on years of conditioning from when you were a child. When your mind knows that it is an hour to any sort of restroom, it gives you the ability to hold on for at least a while longer. When all you have to do is walk into the next room, your mind does not help you in the same way. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2022, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-one-seem-to-get-less-bathroom-warning-at-home-than-in-public-possible-tmi/967430/4 "2022-07-05T08:49:01Z")
Since this is a medical/personal experience question, I’m moving it to IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2022, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-one-seem-to-get-less-bathroom-warning-at-home-than-in-public-possible-tmi/967430/5 "2022-07-05T11:00:36Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > When your mind knows that it is an hour to any sort of restroom, it gives you the ability to hold on for at least a while longer. YMMV if you have irritable bowel syndrome. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2022, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-one-seem-to-get-less-bathroom-warning-at-home-than-in-public-possible-tmi/967430/6 "2022-07-05T13:35:22Z")
> [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > YMMV if you have irritable bowel syndrome. And varies even more wildly if you have inflammatory bowel disease. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2022, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-one-seem-to-get-less-bathroom-warning-at-home-than-in-public-possible-tmi/967430/7 "2022-07-05T13:52:19Z")
For me, it’s often been the opposite of what’s described in the OP. Shopping at Lowe’s home improvement stores commonly triggers a need to take a dump. And they are pretty good at hiding their restrooms. A similar although lesser phenomenon is associated with Barnes & Noble. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2022, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-one-seem-to-get-less-bathroom-warning-at-home-than-in-public-possible-tmi/967430/8 "2022-07-05T14:09:39Z")
**Mustard’s Law:** When you feel the urgent need to urinate or defecate, that urgency doubles in intensity with every step nearer you are to the toilet, beginning approximately 50 paces from your destination. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2022, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-one-seem-to-get-less-bathroom-warning-at-home-than-in-public-possible-tmi/967430/9 "2022-07-05T14:34:30Z")
Others mentioned that your bladder/bowels know when you’re home. Here’s a Straight Dope classic on the subject that was compiled into _Teemings_. Is _Teemings_ still available anyplace? > [@My Bladder Knows I'm Home](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-bladder-knows-im-home/158436): > > Arriving home yesterday evening, as I usually do, I felt the sudden urge to pee. What luck, I thought. Andhere I am just yards away from the back door. Suddenly it occurs to me: my bladder knows I’m home! I doubly my pace to the door and fumble through my coat pocket for my keys. There are no keys in my coat pocket. Me: Bladder - please ignore the information sent by Brain. Hands are unable to locate my keys and it will be a few more minutes before you will be able to void yourself. Blad… ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2022, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-one-seem-to-get-less-bathroom-warning-at-home-than-in-public-possible-tmi/967430/10 "2022-07-05T14:55:48Z")
I call it Pavlov’s Bladder. In my case it derived from 20 years of 5 hour tutoring sessions where I really couldn’t leave my students alone. Instant I unlock my front door the urge comes back full force. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2022, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-one-seem-to-get-less-bathroom-warning-at-home-than-in-public-possible-tmi/967430/11 "2022-07-05T15:36:36Z")
The premise is definitely true, I can’t count the number of times I was overcome by an urgent need to urinate the minute I unlocked the door to my apartment, an urge that my mind suppressed until that moment. This happened hundreds of times, I’m sure, I always wrote it off to “the brain is a wonderful thing”, and I was grateful. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2022, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-one-seem-to-get-less-bathroom-warning-at-home-than-in-public-possible-tmi/967430/12 "2022-07-06T10:39:42Z")
My urge hits as soon as I get off the highway onto local roads. The need to pee is inversely proportional to the distance to the loo. By the time I get to the door it is reaching a cresendo that must be dealt with, NOW!