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The Pursuit of Precontinence

By BitterGrey

Much of the discussion among ABDLs about incontinence focuses on either the 'why' or the 'how'. That is, either why ABDLs would want to become incontinent, or how particular methods could be used to cause incontinence. These methods cripple some function to try to approximate baby-like wetting. However babies aren't merely incontinent, but precontinent. They are pre-wired to become continent. Urination is under reflexive control until the ability for unconscious and conscious control develops.

ABDLs who are considering urinary incontinence might wish to take a step back and give some thought to what qualities they are seeking. Otherwise, they might find what they were working for wasn't actually what they wanted. It also might be pleasant to enjoy the irony of the pursuit: Some ABDLs seek incontinence as a way to approximate an infantile state - a state of being pre-wired for continence.

The biology of precontinence

In newborns, urination is fully controlled. As the bladder fills, the inner sphincter contracts to hold the urine. At a point, the micturition reflex is triggered; the bladder contracts and the inner sphincter relaxes. The bladder drains, and the muscles along the urethra then eject any residual urine. This repeats roughly 20 times per day. The process is under complete control, just not conscious control.

As the brain and nervous system develop, the toddler gains an ability to sense the state of his bladder and to control his outer sphincter. This also alters the reflexes that controlled precontinence. The child develops the ability to delay urination when the bladder is full and some ability to initiate urination when it isn't.

The quality of precontinence

In addition to being part of the idealization of babyhood, precontinence has some key qualities that might make it desirable: It is episodic, involuntary, and novel. Different ABDLs will place differing values these qualities.

Episodic urination is something that is generally taken for granted. However, for urination to be an interesting event, it needs to be an event. Precontinent and continent urination is episodic, with relatively long periods of filling followed by a short emptying. A continuous dribble would grow uninteresting fast.

Involuntary urination is the focus of most approaches to incontinence. Superficially, this can offer a sense of surprise, lack of control, and helplessness. It also results in a diaper-dependence, and identification as being "in diapers." In addition to these often-discussed aspects, more subtle tremblings might also be worth mentioning: A man's orgasm and a baby boy's precontinent urination are both involuntary actions of neighboring smooth muscles, sending fluid down the urethra.

Novelty might be the most perishable quality. For babies, everything is new. In a year or two, the toddler has gone from having no awareness of urination to developing a measure of control over it. Any approximation of precontinence, no matter how accurate, will become the ABDL's new norm, his new status quo. Habituation drives us to develop, but it also makes sensations grow familiar, then old.

Parenting manuals stress waiting for the child to show a readiness and interest in being potty-trained. While some ABDLs had parents that pushed, urged, or bribed, the rest of us freely gave up what is now our golden ideal, precontinence.

The pursuits

There are a number of alternatives that ABDLs have used in the pursuit of precontinence. As should be expected, each has advantages and disadvantages.

Untraining

Bladder untraining, with only two steps, might be the simplest approach to incontinence. Those two steps are 1) wear diapers and 2) don't hold your pee. With practice, wetting the diaper will become easier and easier. It will also become more frequent. Individual progress will vary, but after much continuous practice, you might start wetting automatically. Initially, you might be surprised to find that you've already started wetting. Later, you might realize that your diaper is wet, but have no recollection of having wet it. Reaching this stage isn't without it's costs: A sufficiently absorbent diaper might quickly soak up each overlooked wetting, resulting in monotony. It is possible that arcs other than this automatic-to-inferred wetting arc occur, and individual experiences will vary.

Hypnosis

The effect of hypnosis varies with the suggestions and how they are worded. Depending on the wording, your mind may also fill in details. One benefit to sources like warpmymind.com is that you can explore a wide range of files and find one with suggestions and a style that matches your desires.

One example is "Accustomed to Wetting" by Sarnoga. This hypnosis file attempts to guide the listener not only into a state of incontinence, but into the perspective of one who's incontinence so well-established that they no longer take note of wetting. This may or may not be what you want. Two other notably focused files by Sarnoga are "Comfortable in Diapers" and "Diaper Dependence", which actually don't focus on incontinence. "Comfortable in diapers" focuses on identification as being in diapers. "Diaper Dependence" enforces that dependence by first crippling one's ability to use a toilet.

Other files implement a sense of helplessness by having you fight an urge to pee, and fail. While this helplessness and lack of control might be enjoyable, it is actually an aspect of potty training, inconsistent with precontinence.

WARNING:

Holding a painfully full bladder could result in kidney damage. Unless there is something weakening your ability or determination to fight a painful urge, don't.

Still other files, such as EMGs "Instantwetting" hope to externalize control by suggesting a trigger that others can use (or that can be mixed into one's ipod playlist).

Catheters

While individual experiences with retraining and hypnosis will vary widely, the incontinence caused by catheters is fairly reproducible. By superseding both inner and outer sphincters, the catheter prevents the bladder from holding urine. The movement of the urine will be dictated by gravity, either a continuous dribble or spurts when the body changes position. The sensation of urination is also different, as superseded muscular actions will be absent, and flow through the catheter won't be felt as it would if it was just through the urethra.

Unlike other methods, catheter abuse involves significant medical risks. Pessimistically, they might cause a Urinary Tract Infection (UTI). Treating the UTI would involve explaining the cause to the doctor. Not treating the UTI might involve more widespread infection, which could become fatal. Infections aside, the catheter would involve having a tube extending from your penis. This tube might tug painfully with movement. It will also make identifying as baby-like or diaper-dependent difficult.

WARNING:

Catheter use involves a risk of severe infection, especially if improper methods or equipment is used.

Happiness

One of the U.S. Constitution's remarkable insights is that it doesn't list happiness as a human right - only the pursuit of happiness. Precontinence wasn't a static condition, but a wondrous progression. It could be that an ABDL's pursuit of precontinence - that dynamic and uncertain journey - is actually actually a better approximation of babyhood than incontinence is.


- Updated:19 July 2020  1st:13 June 2013     

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