I'm a male American, and I know that distracting myself can, though for a short time, get my mind off of my bladder. If I try, I can distract myself just long enough. Every now and then I get a reminder and the mysterious "piss shivers" but my bladder holds. When I finally do get to go, it's shivers galore!

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"Double the flush, double the fun" --The Amazing Anus

If I have to pee really bad I bite my finger hard enough to make more pain than my bladder is in at the moment. I'm up for trying something that doesn't leave teeth marks.

I'm not 100% sure if this would work for bladder or rectal discharge, but when I have to sneeze, I dig my fingernail into the knuckle of the thumb right behind the nail. I'll have to try it out for pissing and pooping.
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Yes, those are my brown spots. Yes, those are your walls.

In a similar vain, with absolutely disheartening results, Wonderpance kicked me in the nuts, resulting in complete loss of bladder AND bowel control.

sounds accurate because the Japanese will rub their forehead if they get the need to yawn

I don't get this indirect approach. I rub my forehead when I have a headache. I rub my calf when I have a cramp. When I'm horny, ....

Oh, and AB2K. Are you really serious re: "I'm up for trying something that doesn't leave teeth marks"?

Logjam: When am I ever really serious?

AB2K is serious; I'm Roebuck: Who's minding the store?

The only problem with this technique is that a person giving a presentation is going to notice all the women scratching their legs, and he (or she) is going to piss his or her pants from laughing.

I`m a country dweller and the only things I scratch are my head and my nuts. Never helped stop me pissing or shitting.

This makes no sense to me. My brain is not thinking about taking a piss. It is concentrating on keeping me from taking a piss, until I get to the bathroom/tree/corner/sexual partner. I do not want to "interrupt the message" from my bladder to my brain.
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Sir SamDamnit!
The Prince of Poop

When I need to distract myself from urinating, I just "[t]ie it in a knot..." just like my Drill Sargent Dearest advised. When needing to take a dump, DS Dearest advised to "[p]ut a cork in it". I suppose this strategy might also work for women, whether or not they're Australian. That is, the "cork" advice, not the "knot" advice.

That's what I've always liked about the Army: so full of practical advice for any situation.

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Deja Poo - Because this shit's so strange, it couldn't ever have happened before.