The original poster asked, I think, specifically about the attitude adjusting properties of an enema, which I’ve discovered rather accidentally but do believe in.
It’s obvious I’m going to feel better afterwards when I approach the procedure in huge medical need. The difference goes beyond just relief of constipation, nausea, and pain; there are times I notice I can naturally stand straighter and breathe more deeply after relieving a terrible IBS flare. My whole body relaxes in ways it’d been unable to.
What is less obvious to me but has been so consistent that I believe it’s associated is the psychological lift. And here I’m not talking about an enema with any sort of happy ending. There are times when I have taken quick, workmanlike enemas for IBS prevention that I’ve needed to fit, rather stressfully, in between work meetings or before my cleaning lady arrives. There’s no pain to relieve, and no sexual aspect because that part of my brain is turned off by the time constraints.
And yet…after these enemas I’ve noticed myself better able to deal with the high density of stress and fire drills my role and line of work routinely dish out. The sensation is not that different from my experience of first receiving a moderate opioid dose for pain: the pain is still there, but it does not bother me in the same way.
After an enema, the same stressors and annoyances are still there, but I just don’t react to them in the same way.
Unlike opioids, which I will now only take in the most extreme circumstances, the psychological effect of an enema doesn’t seem to build tolerance; it’s just reliably there.
While I’ve never tried an enema for stress relief alone, my experience tells me that would probably work. And that’s before any of the sexual aspects and those endorphins and other neuroactive chemicals are added, which of course could heighten the effects.