Psychology in the Bathroom

Excretion is a universal part of the human experience that is veiled in taboo. Psychology in the Bathroom explores a variety of embarrassing processes, shameful disorders and disgusting habits, taking the reader on a tour of the clinical and research literatures on elimination from the early psychoanalysts to the latest in neurogastroenterology. Chapters examine the psychological dimensions of constipation and diarrhoea, incontinence and urinary inhibition, and the surprisingly rich psychology of flatulence. Moving beyond the literal products of the irritable bowel and the nervous bladder, the book examines the symbolic aspects of excretion, including dirty language, fetishes, toilet graffiti and the vexed question of whether men should put the seat down. Now in paperback, this book presents cutting-edge science in a playful manner that will be accessible to students in psychology and the general reader.

Nick Haslam is Professor of Psychology and Head of the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences at the University of Melbourne, Australia. He has published extensively in social, clinical and personality psychology. His previous books include Introduction to Personality and Intelligence; Values and Vulnerabilities; Yearning to Breathe Free; Introduction to the Taxometric Method and Relational Models Theory: A Contemporary Overview.

Introduction

1. The Irritable Bowel
2. The Nervous Bladder
3. On Flatulence
4. The Anal Character
5. Potty Mouth
6. Toilet Graffiti
7. Seat Up or Down?