Introduction: The use of public bathrooms is a challenge for everyone, but especially for those who are affected by a bathroom-dependent condition. Being dependent on bathrooms is linked with different negative emotions. One of them is a clinically relevant emotion: shame associated with the chronic condition.
Materials and methods: In a cross-sectional survey study (n = 193) of people who suffer a bathroom-dependent condition we asked about health conditions, well-being, and shame related to chronic condition outcomes.
Results: We show a link between negative public bathroom experiences, and diminished well-being and feelings of shame related to chronic illness. We found that this relationship between negative experiences with public bathrooms and shame is not specific to the different conditions.
Conclusion: We conclude that the negative experiences which people with different gastrointestinal illnesses face is an environmental stressor associated with more embarrassment as a result of the condition suffered.
Keywords: IBD psychology; chronic illness; environmental health; gastrointestinal disease.
© 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC.