Anal Fixation: Myths and Facts

Introduction

The second psychosexual stage put forward by Sigmund Freud was anal fixation. According to Freud, during the anal stage of psychosexual development, the sexual urge (libido) will be anus-focussed, and thus, the child experiences pleasure while defecating. This stage sort of deals with the child’s knowledge of their wishes, developing an ego with the outside world. Thus the, defecating practices play a major role in the characteristics and personality of the children when they grow up.

What Are the Two Categories of People Developed by Anal Fixation?

Anal fixation can result in two different categories of people.

• One is the anal-retentive people, who have undergone strict potty training. These people tend to develop characteristics or traits of being strict with things happening around them. They are usually obsessed and have qualities of being stubborn, wanting things to be orderly and under their control. These people can come across as annoying individuals with their controlling traits.

• The other one is the anal-expulsive individuals. These people would have undergone relaxed potty training where the child would not have complied with any of the instructions. These individuals grow up to be messy, emotional, disorganized, confident, artistic, and cruel.

What Are the Myths About Anal Fixation?

A few common myths about fixation, believed by many patients because of some preconceived notions about bowel movements and cleanliness, are to be discussed in this article.

Hundreds of patients with complaints regarding their bowel movements seek doctors' help every time. To discuss some of the common complaints,

1. I cannot pass stool in the morning.

2. My bowel movements are not regular.

3. I have to pass stool more than once a day.

4. I cannot pass stool every day.

5. I have a soft stool or hard stool, or there are undigested particles in the stool.

People often consider these events to be causes of fixation. But in reality, it is just a myth. These events are quite natural and are not a problem at all. Certain other factors are causing these factors, and those factors have to be handled in order to ease the bowel complaints.

How to Manage Bowel Conditions and the Myths Associated With It?

First of all, one should know that a bowel movement ranging from once in three days up to three bowel movements in a day is all considered normal. Secondly, if your time of input is not fixed and you modify it on a daily basis, then the output will also be irregular, and that cannot be considered an issue. The major culprit for the irregularities in our bowel movements is our own lifestyle and eating habits.

Chewing Food - People lead hectic and busy lives nowadays, especially those who do regular office jobs. They hardly get half an hour of lunchtime. In that, they have only 15 minutes to finish the lunch. Now, imagine! The work that your strong teeth should have done is given to the soft intestines. How can they break the food particles into smaller ones to digest them properly? That is the reason most people feel indigestion and also undigested food particles in the stool. So, what should one do? Yes, there is a shortage of time, but one has to find a solution. Chew as much as you can. Chewing is not just beneficial for digestion, but it also prevents overeating and eventual obesity.

As a person chews food, the larger food particles will break down into smaller particles, and it easily passes through the esophagus, also known as the food pipe. Then it gets metabolized easily in the stomach as the saliva involved in chewing contains enormous amounts of digestive enzymes.

Skipping Meals or Having Delayed Meals - People who do field jobs and who travel long distances daily do not have a fixed time for having lunch. Sometimes, they have it early and sometimes late or sometimes skip it altogether. Then, how can you expect your bowels to obey the order? It will try to compensate initially, but later it loses it and starts behaving erratically.

Again, the solution cannot be medicine. Until and unless the cause is not removed, the medicines can hardly help. Having meals at the right time every day is as important as the sleep cycle. It is very important for the body to adapt to a rhythm. A long time gap between meals will directly affect the metabolic rate, and one day, the issue can become huge. It is always advisable to have less than a 4 hours gap between meals. The suggested time for breakfast is within two hours of waking up, for lunch, it is from 12 noon to 2 PM, and dinner should be taken before 8 PM. There should be a minimum of two hours between dinner and bedtime.

Stress - One of the major contributing factors recognized now is 'stress.' Yes, let me explain. We all are living under tremendous stress relating to a number of matters. Now, stress releases certain neurotransmitters, which in turn causes changes in hormonal secretion, altering the metabolism and giving rise to many metabolic and neurologic diseases, deficiencies, and whatnot.

Here also, medicine has very little role to play. It is the person who has to learn to manage life in a way that he can follow a good routine at least up to the minimum required levels. It is not possible to correct it note to note, but some effort is necessary.

Try not to stress too much. Take things lightly. Go for a walk every day or exercise regularly. Listen to soothing music. Prepare a favorite healthy meal. Try not to skip meditation, as it works wonders. Get eight hours of sleep always, and avoid caffeine and alcohol intake.

Dietary Habits - Dietary habits are also one of the chief constituents in the initiation of the irregularities like lack of fibers in diet, drinking less water, eating unhealthy food rich in fat and harmful contents, etc. So, if you do not eat right, you cannot shit right.

Beans, avocado, apples, bananas, dried fruits, and berries are a good source of fiber.

Plus, there are some very good options to reduce the impact of all these on your life, like a homeopathic treatment, yoga asanas, pranayama, exercise, etc. But it also requires your efforts. It is an old saying that health is wealth. Learn it, earn it and live it.

Conclusion

The ultimate purpose of this article is to give an insight to the readers about what they might be doing wrong and how they can correct their mistakes and save time and money. Metabolism and bowel-related complaints are beyond anal fixation and are just a myth to be eradicated. A disciplined life is enough medicine for a healthy body.