Strange but True: Bathroom Stage Fright

Tuesday, 19 July 2011

Strange but True: Bathroom Stage Fright

Do you, or any of your friends, have "bathroom stage fright"? That is, when it comes to public restrooms, it's a no-go? Turns out, this is a real condition, affecting over 20 million Americans.

Known as paruresis (a fear of urinating when other people are nearby), the condition stems from a fear of judgment. With men, its a specific fear of judgment about their masculinity.

People who suffer from this anxiety based condition have been known to "hold it" for upwards of 14 hours, or intake very little fluid, in order to control the situation.

Thankfully, 80-90% of sufferers can get better through cognitive-behavioral therapy.

Medical professionals are attempting to raise awareness for those suffering.

Have you ever heard of this disorder? Does anyone you know suffers from it?

Read a full article on MSNBC on the topic,
or visit the website http://paruresis.org for more information.
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Comments (11)

I thought that some people just don't like to use public restrooms. but yeah, I don't have that problem. if you gotta go you gotta go! and if it comes down to it, just hover/squat.
- 7/19/2011 8:09 PM
- ivarahBharavi@xanga (message)
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lol "Waiting"
- 7/19/2011 8:10 PM
- starcrossedloversdivine@xanga (message)
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I got over my fear of people hearing me pee in highschool. Some days I was at school 6AM-11PM so I just had to pee.
- 7/19/2011 8:28 PM
- Murphy_Rants@xanga (message)
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It's a form of social phobia, I believe, and while "bathroom stage fright" is not an inaccurate way to describe it, it's DEFINITELY a really, really stupid way to INTRODUCE it to people who may know nothing about it if you intend to do so for educational purposes and not amusement purposes. And if you're just doing it because you find it amusing... sort of douchey. But it's just a bit of a silly comparison and can be misleading when you're introducing the condition to someone who knows nothing about it... like it is in this situation, for educational purposes, it's a misleading nickname for the disorder, and therefore isn't a very good one to use when trying to be informative.
Also, what do the healthkicker editors even DO? Amateur bloggers make typos, yes. But in such a short post, missing out on correcting mistakes on the EDITORS part is pretty inexcusable. I mean, "intake very fluid"? The misspelling of the condition in the link making the link obsolete? It's a pretty short piece and I hardly expect Healthkicker to have the BEST... or even good material, but this is pretty sorry even for Healthkicker. =/
Anyway, personally, I have this sort of thing as a symptom of my social anxiety disorder, or we think so anyway. I have to have REALLY specific conditions to go to the bathroom these days, and one of those conditions is being in my own bathroom. >.< It's odd, and inconvenient, but it happens. As for anyone who has the condition as a stand-alone disorder? I don't believe I know anyone who does. I know several others who, like me, have something similar as a symptom of another anxiety disorder, or similar psychological illness, but nothing like that all on it's own, though I knew it wasn't unheard of at all.
- 7/19/2011 9:08 PM
- AGreatPerhaps@xanga (message)
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Well, I can't go when I know someone is around. It's not that I'm terrified, it's just awkward.
- 7/19/2011 9:06 PM
- IniquitousxAffliction@xanga (message)
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@path_2_happiness@xanga - "A gassy dookie" LOL
- 7/19/2011 9:48 PM
- ohforrealson@xanga (message)
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My brother use to be afraid to poo in school.
I could careless if anyone hears me pee. When I hear others pee idc. We all pee.
I mean I could understand if you need to drop a gassy dookie, then yeah, that would be embarrassing
- 7/19/2011 11:01 PM
- path_2_happiness@xanga (message)
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@AGreatPerhaps@xanga - Agreed, and I've had issues with this as well in conjunction with social anxiety disorder. It really pisses me off how people like to amuse themselves with other people's mental illnesses. You don't see me going around making fun of more physically obvious handicaps.
- 7/20/2011 3:50 AM
- OstentatiousEloquence@xanga (message)
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It depends on the situation, if there is one other person in a very small public restroom, there is no way I am going. I will sit there forever.
If a child is playing (talking, or in the next stall) can't go.
If someone is trying to have a conversation with me - well, that goes hand in hand with another person being in the bathroom, can't go.
If there is a line in a smaller bathroom (less than 3 stalls) can't go...
If my stall is RIGHT NEAR the line... can't go...
If it's a huge washroom and someone is clear across the room, I MAY be able to go, depending on the environment of the bathroom (room playing, left on hand dryer, etc).
Otherwise, I can have to pee like a race-horse, and I can not go if they are any of my "problem" situations. It can get pretty miserable.
- 7/20/2011 2:29 PM
- ninety_day_dream@xanga (message)
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@AGreatPerhaps@xanga - @OstentatiousEloquence@xanga - Hey guys-- totally did not mean this to be offensive, I actually thought it was very interesting and something people might not be aware of. As I mentioned in the post, it is considered to be a pretty serious issue. The article I read did not discuss it's association with other anxiety issues, which is a really interesting point.

I've submitted a few edits (can't believe I didn't catch those, thank you for pointing them out) but the link for the website does not seem to be working even when I type it in correctly. If either of you know any related support sites, I encourage you to post them on here.

Thanks for reading HealthKicker and happy Friday.
- 7/22/2011 3:26 PM
- HeatherC (message)
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@HeatherC - No worries. TY for your understanding.
- 7/22/2011 3:43 PM
- OstentatiousEloquence@xanga (message)
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