We humans carry out two types of violence. The physical violence and the mental or the psychological violence.
You may wonder what flatulence has to do with the violence.
Flatulence has been used as a tool to carry out the psychological violence. When we talk about violence, we usually refer to physical violence. Physical violence is material in nature. Its effects are often immediate and obvious.
We may believe that only physical violence is widespread. The reality is that the psychological violence is just as much prevalent as physical one. We are just beginning to recognize this form of the violence.
We are one of the best tool devising animals on the planet. We have uncanny abilities to invent all different types of tools to satisfy our needs. We have effectively turned, flatulence, an otherwise natural phenomena into an object of satire and humor.
This identification makes us wary of everything that has to do with passing gas. We know that we easily and involuntarily associate guilt and feeling of wrongdoing when we pass gas. It makes us conscious and it embarrasses us. We fear we would be ridiculed and judged.
Maybe there is an implicit assumption that just like the defecation, the flatulence should not be exercised in public. And as we will see there are valid reasons for holding such assumptions.
From a practical perspective, if there are people around you, it causes them discomfort for sure. If you think of this yourself, when you smell the bad gas, it is not a comforting feeling. You really wouldn't like to go through that experience yourself. Just the same way, you should not cause others to go through that experience.
In this sense, the general attitude about passing gas is not completely out-of-place. The roots of such an attitude lie in the potentially discomforting nature of the flatulence.
The discomfort that others may experience is going to be momentary. Because in reality the length of the episodes is very small, consisting only of few seconds. But there are exceptions. The exception is when someone is having a very high frequency with consistency of foul smell. They are indeed exceptions and they do call for attention.
Ironically, in some sense, the prevalent attitude may be helpful to those who have a high frequency of foul smelling gas. They do need to take action and seek medical help. They may feel compelled to take action, given the pressure they feel from others.
Although the situation is as simple as it may initially appear. How potently flatulence can be used against you depends upon multiple factors.
It depends how bad you suffer from it. Occasional instances of bad smelling gas are not a big problem. Also it is not much of a problem if you are not too much loud. Another factor is the presence of people around you. If no one is around you it is definitely a non issue.
But the point is that for the majority of people the situation doesn't call for the mental harassment that these people are subjected to.
For the infrequent scenario we assumed that you do not have any other accompanying disease conditions. Many times passing too much gas, especially bad smelling one could indicate a disease or intolerance which needs medical attention. In such cases, passing gas may not be that benign.
Often people feel comfortable around family members. Also within the family, people are usually familiar with each others habits. They may be using humor around flatulence within the family setting. It is not clear how appropriate it is to use such humor. As it definitely contributes to perpetuating the notion that passing gas is a shameful practice.
But the point is that people usually do not feel embarrassed or guilty when they are around supportive people. Some people have a complete don't care attitude about the issue. No mater what type of setting they are in, familiar or non-familiar, they are completely okay about passing gas and are not deterred by perceptions of what others may think of them.
We can say they have an inherently strong mental disposition. They are much less vulnerable and are good at defending themselves if an attack is launched against them.
But not everyone is that strong. The nature of flatulence is such that it doesn't follow any particular schedule. It is a natural bodily activity which has its own schedule and hence can strike at any time. It can catch you in a public situation which can easily make you feel shameful and embarrassed.
Using restroom every time you have the urge to pass gas, is not really a practical solution. Although if it can be practiced it will definitely lead to a better outcome.
As we can see there are multiple factors at play here.
Before I tell you how to fix the foul smelling gas, you really need to ask to yourself. If you are passing bad smelling gas, do you really need to do anything about it?
The answer will be different for different people. It may be indicative of a serious underlying situation which you need to rule out. Once you have ruled out any serious health problems, it actually depends upon your mental strength.
The fact of the matter is that, flatulence can be and will be used against you as a psychological weapon. The question is whether you need help to deal with that you can survive on your own.
Assuming you have a problem and if you are strong willed, you would be okay. But not everyone has that strong a will and they can use help to deal with their situation.
Rimas Sony is a writer with expertise in human digestion. You can check out his latest website How to Stop Foul Smelling Flatulence, where he provides details, unbiased reviews and advice about how to stop flatulence problems and promote better digestive health.
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