Can Urinary Incontinence Cause Depression?
If you’ve ever experienced bladder leaks, you know how disruptive they can be. A laugh that turns into a leak. A run you cut short. The constant planning around bathrooms, pads, and spare clothes. While bladder leaks (urinary incontinence) are common, they are not normal, and what many don’t realize is that the emotional toll can be just as significant as the physical toll.
Emerging research shows a strong link between urinary incontinence and mental health, particularly depression and anxiety. For many women, this connection goes unnoticed or unspoken, leading to unnecessary suffering in silence and a vicious cycle of depression. But the good news? Understanding this link opens the door to effective, empowering solutions.
What is Urinary Incontinence?
Urinary incontinence (UI) is the unintentional loss of urine. It comes in several forms, but the most common types are:
- Stress incontinence: leaking with activities such as coughing, laughing, sneezing, or exercise.
- Urge incontinence: a sudden, strong need to urinate that causes bladder leaks.
- Mixed incontinence: a combination of stress and urge incontinence.
In women, urinary incontinence often develops after childbirth, around menopause, or with age as pelvic floor muscles weaken. In fact, studies estimate that up to 62% women in the United States experience urinary incontinence.
Despite how common it is, the conversation around urinary incontinence remains far too quiet. And that silence can lead to deeper struggles beyond the bladder.
Take our FREE Incontinence Quiz to find out your type of incontinence and get treatment options on what you can do about it.
The Emotional Burden of Urinary Incontinence
Bladder leaks do more than inconvenience your day; they can erode your confidence and sense of normalcy. More than 1 in 2 women suffer from urinary incontinence – with a reported significantly lower quality of life due to comorbid symptoms of anxiety and depression. Women often describe feeling embarrassed, frustrated, or even ashamed. Outings become stressful. Exercise is avoided. Some stop traveling, dating, or being intimate with their partners.
This loss of freedom can weigh heavily on mental health. Research published in BMC Psychiatry found that women with urinary incontinence are significantly more likely to experience depression and anxiety than those without leaks. It’s not just about the bladder, it’s about identity, independence, and confidence.
Imagine constantly scanning a room for the nearest bathroom or hesitating to laugh freely. Over time, these moments of hesitation and self-consciousness can add up, affecting your mood, social connections, and quality of life.
Urinary Incontinence and Depression Connection
Urinary incontinence is linked to more than double the rate of severe depression and is ranked by the World Health Organization just behind Alzheimer’s and stroke among the top three chronic conditions that most negatively affect quality of life. Women with incontinence are also prescribed antidepressants at a significantly higher rate than those without incontinence (42.87% vs. 28.62%).
The connection between urinary incontinence and depression is truly a two-way street. Bladder leaks can lead to embarrassment, isolation, and emotional distress—but depression itself can also worsen bladder symptoms due to isolation and inactivity.
When mental health is struggling, maintaining healthy habits becomes more difficult. For example, many women drink less water to avoid leaks, which irritates the bladder, making incontinence worse. Sip smarter by learning to manage these 4 bladder irritants.
One in three middle-aged women stop exercising to avoid bladder leaks.
Depression can also impact the nervous system, disrupting the brain-to-bladder communication that controls urination.
It becomes a vicious cycle: leaks increase anxiety, and anxiety can make leaks worse. The key to breaking that cycle lies in treating both the physical and emotional aspects.
Exercise is one of the most effective first-line treatments for anxiety and depression—and it can also help strengthen the pelvic floor. Starting an exercise-based approach to incontinence is a powerful step toward both physical and emotional healing.
That’s where Flyte can help. In just five minutes a day, Flyte strengthens and tones your pelvic floor muscles, restoring confidence and bladder control.
Once bladder leaks are under control, it becomes easier to move freely, stay active, and rebuild the healthy routines that lift your mood and support long-term wellness. Treating incontinence isn’t just about staying dry—it’s about breaking the cycle between depression and bladder leaks and reclaiming your strength, inside and out.
Unleashing the Stigma of Urinary Incontinence
Despite affecting millions, urinary incontinence still carries a stigma. Many women don’t bring it up with their healthcare providers because they assume it’s “normal after having kids” or “just part of getting older.” In fact, the University of Michigan found 66% of women don’t talk to their doctor about incontinence.
But “common” and “just living with it” does not mean incontinence is untreatable. Shame and silence only delay recovery. One study in BMC Women’s Health found women with stress incontinence delay seeking medical help for over 10 years. During that time, depression and anxiety can quietly take root.
Breaking the stigma starts with talking about it—openly, honestly, and without shame. Urinary incontinence is a medical condition, not a personal flaw. And like any medical diagnosis, it deserves care and treatment.
One 2016 study found that only 3% of conversations on incontinence were initiated by healthcare providers, highlighting how crucial it is for women to bring it up themselves. Discussing incontinence with your doctor is a first step toward learning about effective treatment options and improved quality of life.
Download information on Flyte for my provider
Hope and Solutions for Urinary Incontinence
Here’s the good news: both bladder leaks and their emotional burden are treatable. You don’t have to live with either.
For urinary incontinence, first-line treatments recommended by pelvic health experts include:
- Flyte System at-home pelvic floor treatment – a clinically proven, FDA-cleared, in-home medical device that uses gentle mechanical oscillations to strengthen, tone, and treat the pelvic floor in just 5 minutes a day from home.
Is Flyte right for you? Ask one of Flyte’s pelvic health clinical experts with a free call – schedule today!
- Pelvic floor muscle training (Kegels) – to strengthen the muscles that support the bladder.
- Pelvic floor physical therapy – guided help from a trained physical therapist.
- Lifestyle strategies – reducing bladder irritants like caffeine, maintaining hydration, and exercising regularly.
For those who don’t respond to conservative care, options may include medications, urethral bulking agents, or surgery.
Addressing mental health is just as essential. Therapy, mindfulness, support groups, and regular exercise can all help ease the emotional strain. And remember—pelvic floor therapy and mental health care don’t have to exist in separate worlds. Healing happens faster when body and mind are supported together.
Real Women, Real Results with Flyte
Many women who use Flyte share not just physical improvements, but emotional ones too:
“I’ve lived with this issue for over 10 years — I can’t believe only a few weeks into the Flyte program and I am seeing such amazing results - and without surgery! This is life changing.” -Lisa
“I no longer wear pads, and I am confident without them! I am so excited to be free from constantly paying for and wearing pads - but even more excited to be dating again! Flyte is totally worth it.” -Carrie
These stories remind us that recovery isn’t just about bladder control—it’s about reclaiming the parts of life that bladder leaks once stole.
Download information about Flyte for my healthcare provider
Learn More About Flyte
If bladder leaks have affected your confidence, your sleep, or your emotional well-being, you’re not alone—and you don’t have to wait for things to get worse.
Flyte is an FDA-cleared, at-home treatment designed to resolve urinary incontinence with surgical-level results—without surgery, pads, or endless office visits. In just five minutes a day, women can strengthen their pelvic floor, eliminate or reduce leaks, and regain control of their lives.
You deserve to live free from the worry, embarrassment, and anxiety that incontinence can bring. Take the first step today—download information about Flyte for your provider to begin treating incontinence effectively from home, so you can take back control of your life.
References
Patel UJ, Godecker AL, Giles DL, Brown HW. Updated Prevalence of Urinary Incontinence in Women: 2015-2018 National Population-Based Survey Data. Female Pelvic Med Reconstr Surg. 2022 Apr 1;28(4):181-187. doi: 10.1097/SPV.0000000000001127. Epub 2022 Jan 12. PMID: 35030139.
Felde, G., Engeland, A. & Hunskaar, S. Urinary incontinence associated with anxiety and depression: the impact of psychotropic drugs in a cross-sectional study from the Norwegian HUNT study. BMC Psychiatry 20, 521 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-020-02922-4
Cheng S, Lin D, Hu T, Cao L, Liao H, Mou X, Zhang Q, Liu J, Wu T. Association of urinary incontinence and depression or anxiety: a meta-analysis. J Int Med Res. 2020 Jun;48(6):300060520931348. doi: 10.1177/0300060520931348. PMID: 32552169; PMCID: PMC7303787.
Bartolone SN, Sharma P, Chancellor MB, Lamb LE. Urinary Incontinence and Alzheimer's Disease: Insights From Patients and Preclinical Models. Front Aging Neurosci. 2021 Dec 17;13:777819. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2021.777819. PMID: 34975457; PMCID: PMC8718555.
Datar M, Pan LC, McKinney JL, Goss TF, Pulliam SJ. Healthcare Resource Use and Cost Burden of Urinary Incontinence to United States Payers. NeurourolUrodyn. 2022;41:1553‐1562. doi:10.1002/nau.24989
Brown WJ, Miller YD. Too wet to exercise? Leaking urine as a barrier to physical activity in women. J Sci Med Sport. 2001 Dec;4(4):373-8. doi: 10.1016/s1440-2440(01)80046-3. PMID: 11905931.
Carek PJ, Laibstain SE, Carek SM. Exercise for the treatment of depression and anxiety. Int J Psychiatry Med. 2011;41(1):15-28. doi: 10.2190/PM.41.1.c. PMID: 21495519.
National Poll on Healthy Aging November 2018, http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/146144
Grzybowska ME, Wydra D, Smutek J. Analysis of the usage of continence pads and help-seeking behavior of women with stress urinary incontinence in Poland. BMC Womens Health. 2015 Sep 30;15:80. doi: 10.1186/s12905-015-0238-6. PMID: 26423398; PMCID: PMC4589946.
Duralde ER, Walter LC, Van Den Eeden SK, Nakagawa S, Subak LL, Brown JS, Thom DH, Huang AJ. Bridging the gap: determinants of undiagnosed or untreated urinary incontinence in women. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2016 Feb;214(2):266.e1-266.e9. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2015.08.072. Epub 2015 Sep 5. PMID: 26348382; PMCID: PMC4830485.