Enuresis: An historical,cultural, and contemporary account of etiology and treatment

The authors discuss the cultural relativism of enuresis and the subsequent notion that urinary incontinence may not be a disease or psychopathy, but, rather, a problem associated with social expectations and developmental delays. Published literature has revealed that, historically, enuretic children have been subjected to distressing and painful methods of treatment, i. e., medications, mechanical devices, and pharmacologic preparations, to the point of permanent disability. They also discuss the evolution of explanations and treatments for enuresis from the Middle Ages into the 1970s, with emphasis on the successful use of behaviral therapies and meaningful parent and child reeducation.