By GREGORY ZELLER //
From the westernmost reaches of Long Island, and a place very close to our hearts, comes Tushy – the Brooklyn-based bidet business that stands ready (or sits, as the case may be) to help you overcome “toilet anxiety.”
The carbon-neutral 2014 startup – which encourages washes over wipes, promising a hygienic improvement that saves time and the environment – is not necessarily building its bidet brand, but is looking to put butts in the seats with a new “Poop Coaching” service, designed to flush away fears as a toilet-weary workforce returns to the office.
Largely referring to qualms that cause people to eschew public toilets – even when they really have to go – “toilet anxiety” is actually a big bowl holding a number of restroom-related issues. More involved than simply “holding it,” the term invokes a range of serious psychological conditions with sometimes acute physical ramifications.
Before you pooh-pooh the notion, consider that scientists vigorously debate whether bowel and bladder anxiety isn’t some mental manifestation of agoraphobia or another serious disorder; entire clinics are dedicated to bathroom-related anxieties; and Australia’s Swinburne University of Technology writes about it constantly (one in seven people won’t answer nature’s call with other people nearby, according to the university).
Miki Agrawal: Potty mouth.
Toilet anxiety was a thing long before COVID. But in a highly germophobic post-pandemic world, those psychological blocks – and their gastrointestinal effects – figure to worsen considerably.
Enter the Poop Coaches, a potty-training team that’s more focused on psychology than sales. Instead of touting Tushy’s butt-washers, the team is trained to answer questions, make constructive suggestions and otherwise help the toilet-anxious ease back into the public latrine scene.
Among the words of washroom wisdom: tips on combatting bathroom germs and bacteria; ideas for drowning out the noisy pooper in the next stall and navigating the notorious “bathroom talker”; even guidance on dealing with toilet paper that’s not attuned to your particular sensibilities.
It’s an awkward topic for sure, and like the bidet itself – Tushy offers travel versions, a bathroom ottoman to put your feet up, bamboo towels to pat dry, the works – toilet anxiety is sure to be the butt of many jokes.
But a personalized Poop Coach who understands and can help is a useful resource for many toilet-anxious people who suffer quietly through the symptoms and side effects, according to Tushy founder Miki Agrawal, who expects many more silent sufferers “with COVID vaccination efforts picking up (and) corporate America … returning to the office after a year of remote work.”
“This is a major adjustment for many people and a lot of them are reeling with anxiety,” Agrawal said. “This includes fear about the dreaded office poop.”
And whether or not they suffered from toilet anxiety before, “people have become accustomed to pooping at their leisure in the comfy confines of their home bathroom,” according to the entrepreneur, widening the Poop Coach playing field.
“Having to take a dump in the office again brings about many triggers for people,” Agrawal said. “We understand these anxieties and want to help coach people through them.
“People shouldn’t be scared to drop a deuce in the office.”
