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Why is the urge to pee so much worse as a passenger than driver?


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Took such a long drive yesterday as a driver and had to pee for two hours with a 600mL coffee and some water. As a driver didn’t really feel it except when moving my foot from brake and accelerator but when I sat in the passenger seat for fun to expeirence being desperate in a car I couldn’t sit still and had to keep moving my leg but then when I sat in the driver seat again o drove with no issues. Also by the time I finally got home I couldn’t even stand straight and still in the elevator

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33 minutes ago, April Nine said:

Maybe because when you're driving you're more distracted towards whats going on as you drive than when you are a passenger

Wouldn’t that mean desperation is mainly mental though and not physical since the contrast is so big? I wonder if I was a genuine passenger and not pretending would have made a difference but wow the difference was so big yesterday

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42 minutes ago, Angusburger said:

Wouldn’t that mean desperation is mainly mental though and not physical since the contrast is so big? I wonder if I was a genuine passenger and not pretending would have made a difference but wow the difference was so big yesterday

Considering we can forget a lot of other things when we're pre-occupied I wouldn't be too surprised. When you're being a passenger your mind really doesn't have anything more important (like not crashing and dying when driving) so maybe the desperation is "prioritized" 

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Why is the urge to pee so much worse as a passenger than driver?

Interesting question... I suspect there are two things going on here...

1. As a passenger you have less distraction.  Experienced drivers are very good at maintaining good concentration on their driving to the point where it is automatic.  This is a super distraction if you are desperate. (For me anyway.)

2. As a passenger you are not in control of the vehicle.  So if you begin to leak and need to stop the car urgently you have to talk to the driver, convince the driver and then the driver has to stop.  If you are the driver, you just have to stop.  I suspect that knowing that it takes longer and that the driver might not agree with you heightens the awareness of your need. 

You see a similar neurological/psychological response in pain management.  If post-surgical patients have to rely on asking for pain relief they typically need more more often than if they have pain relief set up on a piece of kit which dispenses meds (up to a safe limit) immediately when the patient pushes a button.  Patients who can administer their own pain relief typically need less and can go longer without needing it.  

Incidentally, this may well be the mechanism which provides bigger stronger feelings of needing to urinate when someone is tied up (not personally into this but I've got no judgement for people who are).  It removes all control from the person and that elevates their need.

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I agree the mental side re. control and concentration is a big factor. It’s related to the recently discussed topic of how when you deliberately make yourself desperate in safe/controlled conditions then for most people, willpower runs out before physical holding ability fails. Whereas when you introduce public jeopardy into the situation, and lack of control over when you’re going to be able to get yourself out of the situation, panic results and significantly increases the chance of an accident happening.

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I agree with what has been said already for the most part, as I was about to say the same thing and then saw that others came to a similar conclusion. When you are a driver you are in control of the situation and you are focused on the road, when you are a passenger you have nothing to distract you from your need to go to the bathroom and you are totally at the mercy of the driver, so you feel more helpless and more out of control of the situation.

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