POTOMANIA (water addiction): what is it, symptoms, causes and treatment

Should potomania or water addiction be considered a disorder? Unfortunately, there are no exact data on the incidence of potomania, not even worldwide or in developed countries. What we can say with certainty is that although water is necessary and healthy, and everything in excess can be harmful to our health.

It is true that sometimes we become obsessed and pay too much attention to leading a totally healthy life, exceeding some limits without even realizing it. If it has caught your attention and you want to know more about potomania, keep reading! In this Psychology-Online article we explain what is potomania, symptoms, causes, treatment, consequences and differential diagnosis, so you know how to distinguish it from other disorders.

Index

1. what is potomania
2. Symptoms of potomania
3. Causes of potomania
4. treatment of potomania
5. Consequences of potomania
6. Differential diagnosis of potomania

Potomania is a behavioral disorder that includes

It is difficult to place this disorder in one of the categories of the traditional diagnostic system. Potomania is generally regarded as a eating disorder not specified (TANE). Broadly speaking, it would be a anxiety disorder (neurotic polydipsia).

Although, due to the characteristic way in which it manifests itself, it could be considered a impulse control disorder or an obsessive-compulsive disorder. That is why a good differential diagnosis is important in cases of potomania.

If you ask yourself "How to detect potomania?", pay attention to the following symptoms of water addiction that we can observe in people with this problem:

• Water intake that can fluctuate between 8 and 15 liters.
• compensatory behaviors.
• Anxious symptoms.
• feelings of guilt.
• Very restrictive behaviors.
• Feeling of anguish.
• Irritability.
• Frequent urination.

There is no single factor that determines the cause of potomania and other eating disorders, as always, it is due to the interaction between genetics and environment and in this case, surely the environment has a much greater weight.

Eating disorders, such as water addiction, usually appear in the adolescent stage, with a higher prevalence in women aged 12-18 years. It is known that physical, psychological, social, biological and physiological changes begin to be experienced in adolescence.

Insecurities and situations appear that are beyond the control of young people. Hormonal changes in girls can cause greater physical change and weight gain at certain stages of the menstrual cycle, which can make them more prone to this class of diseases.

On the other hand, we must bear in mind the social pressures to which young people are subjected with social networks. "Perfect and exemplary" bodies that cause pressure and dissonance, at the same time that distorted image of their bodies.

The lack of information or the deficiency in the interpretation of certain information can lead people to practice unhealthy behaviors.

Some concrete factors that can trigger the appearance of potomania or addiction to water are:

• The anxiety disorders.
• Personality disorder.
• Crazy pictures.
• "Hysterical" symptoms.
• Alterations in the functioning of the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is the part of the brain responsible for the perception of thirst, a malfunction of this mechanism could trigger episodes of potomania.

In this case, the treatment of potomania or addiction to water would be the same that we would use in cases of TCA (eating behavior disorders) since it is these behaviors that are seen altered.

• Psychological treatment: at a psychological level, the therapy that has so far shown the greatest efficacy is cognitive therapy. In which cognitive restructuring is prioritized due to negative thoughts associated with body image.
• intake restriction: Another technique that has shown efficacy in the treatment of potomania would be to restrict fluid intake to 1 liter per day, and keep patients, if admitted, in a warm room after meals, as has been done with other types of TCA. This reduces your anxiety and activity level.
• Treatment with psychoactive drugs: In extreme cases of addiction to water, it could be treated with psychoactive drugs to reduce anxiety levels.

In any case, it is always important to know the specific causes of potomania in each case in order to apply the best treatment. For this reason, we remind you that this article is merely informative. In Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

What organs does potomania affect? By drinking large amounts of water, you can cause overhydration in our body, which could take our body to produce an excessive dilution of sodium in the blood causing hyponatremia and others endocrine disturbances.

Now, what causes potomania in case of hyponatremia? If it appears gradually, we can notice the following symptoms:

• Lethargy or lack of concentration.
• Alteration of the internal balance, which appears abruptly.
• vomiting and problems with balance.
• seizures
• Confusional syndromes or even coma.
• Death in extreme cases.

ajuriaguerra (1976-1982) points out that the differential diagnosis of water addiction must be very careful and eliminate any organic cause, before being able to conclude with the diagnosis of potomania. The possibility that it is one of the polyuro-polydiptic syndromes (diabetes mellitus, nephrogenic diabetes insipidus, etc.) of organic aetiology must be ruled out.

It must be said that the differential diagnosis between diabetes insipidus without clear organic change and potomania is especially delicate. Therefore, the first thing we must rule out any organic cause which may result in an increase in water intake.

If you liked this article about addiction to water or potomania, we recommend you read another of our posts linked to eating disorders (eating behavior disorders), it is about Drunkorexia: what is it, symptoms, causes and treatment.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to Potomania: what is it, symptoms, causes and treatment, we recommend that you enter our category of Clinical psychology.

1. American psychiatric association, (2014). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM – 5. Madrid Spain. Pan American Medical Publishing.

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• Martinez, A. G., López-Espinoza, A., Navarro, M., López-Uriarte, P., & Salazar, J. g. (2014). Drinking behavior disorders: a research proposal. Mexican Journal of Eating Disorders, 5(1), 58-69.