Bladder trouble tied to depression, anxiety

“From our observations, avoiding stressful situations and stress-reduction are important to prevent dysfunctional voiding”

By Michelle Rizzo

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who suffer from "dysfunctional voiding" -- like having to urinate often and having difficulty voiding -- experience a greater degree of depression and anxiety compared to women without these symptoms, research suggests.

"Dysfunctional voiding ... is more commonly seen in recent years," Dr. Alex T. L. Lin, of Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan, told Reuters Health. "Although we suspect that depression and anxiety are reactions to the dysfunctional voiding, we could not preclude the possibility that psychological abnormalities might predispose one to the occurrence of lower urinary tract dysfunction," he commented. Read more