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posted by janrinok on Thursday January 23 2020, @11:53PM   Printer-friendly
from the don't-be-shy-now dept.

Can't go in a public restroom? You're not alone:

Most of us don't give much thought to going to the toilet. We go when we need to go.

But for a small minority of people, the act of urinating or defecating can be a major source of anxiety—especially when public restrooms are the only facilities available.

Paruresis (shy bladder) and parcopresis (shy bowel) are little known mental health conditions, yet they can significantly compromise a person's quality of life.

We don't know how many people have shy bowel, but research has estimated around 2.8%-16.4% of the population are affected by shy bladder. The condition is more common in males.

[...]

Most of us will feel a little "grossed out" from time to time when using public toilets. But what we're talking about here is different and more serious.

People with shy bladder and shy bowel experience significant anxiety when trying to go to the toilet, especially in public places like shopping centers, restaurants, at work or at school. Sufferers may also experience symptoms in their own home when family or friends are around.

Their anxiety can present in the form of increased heart rate, excessive sweating, rapid breathing, muscle tension, heart palpitations, blushing, nausea, trembling, or a combination of these.

Symptoms range in severity. Some people who are more mildly affected can experience anxiety but still be able to "go," for example when the bathroom is completely empty. Others may urinate or defecate with difficulty—for example their urine stream may be inconsistent. Some people will sit on the toilet and not be able to go at all.

[...] We canvassed 316 undergraduate students in an online survey on shy bladder and shy bowel. Some 72 participants (22.8%) self-reported symptoms of either one or both conditions.

  • We found these symptoms were influenced by particular patterns of thinking, including:
  • a misinterpretation or distortion of information (for example, interpreting laughter in the restroom as being directed towards them)
  • fears around potential perceived negative evaluation (for example, a fear of being criticized for taking too long to defecate, or for sounds and smells produced during urination or defecation)
  • fears around potential perceived positive evaluation (for example, a fear of being evaluated too positively for a strong urine stream).

Using statistical modeling, we found fear of negative evaluation was the factor most strongly associated with shy bladder or shy bowel symptoms.

As such, people with shy bladder or shy bowel may benefit from the sorts of treatments that help people with social anxiety disorder.

Cognitive behavioral therapy, for example, is known to reduce social anxiety symptoms.

The best way to help people with these conditions will be addressing the thought processes behind shy bladder and shy bowel, especially concerns around the perceptions others might evaluate or criticize one's urination or defecation.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Citation: Can't go in a public restroom? You're not alone—and there's help (2020, January 22) retrieved 22 January 2020 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-01-restroom-youre-aloneand.html


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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by barbara hudson on Friday January 24 2020, @01:43AM (4 children)

    by barbara hudson (6443) <barbara.Jane.hudson@icloud.com> on Friday January 24 2020, @01:43AM (#947739) Journal

    Yep. I'd classify it as from the no-shit-sherlock department. Example:

    ... shy bladder. The condition is more common in males.

    So use the stalls with the doors and not the urinals. This way you can do your crossword puzzle at the same time, take your mind off "business", and know the extra 5 minutes is paid vacation courtesy of your boss.

    Their anxiety can present in the form of increased heart rate, excessive sweating, rapid breathing, muscle tension, heart palpitations, blushing, nausea, trembling, or a combination of these.

    That's the burritos and the chilli you had for lunch talking.

    The DSM-5, a manual designed to help clinicians diagnose mental health conditions, classifies shy bladder as a sub-type of social anxiety disorder.

    The DSM-5 doesn't make specific mention of shy bowel, but with more research we hope to see it included in the future.

    Considering how much psychiatry is based on non-replicable studies, falsified data, undeclared conflicts of interest, and outright fraud by researchers (up to 90% of studies have one of these three problems), this will fit right in.

    But what do you expect from a field that had its' start in quacks like Mesmer and then graduated to serious nutbars like Freud.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 24 2020, @01:56AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 24 2020, @01:56AM (#947753)

    Admittedly urinals are fairly bad in some places. Right next to eachther, right in the doorway, especially with people walking right behind you. It doesn't take a genius to design these.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 24 2020, @02:17AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 24 2020, @02:17AM (#947764)

      Once I was in New Orleans and really had to use the toilet, but the bar I went into had only one stall, with no door, and a shady looking guy standing by it holding the toilet paper.

      I'm sure the psychiatrists would put me on xanax for not taking a dump there.

  • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Friday January 24 2020, @10:19AM (1 child)

    by maxwell demon (1608) on Friday January 24 2020, @10:19AM (#947890) Journal

    So use the stalls with the doors and not the urinals.

    This won't help with that one:

    for example, a fear of being criticized for taking too long to defecate

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    • (Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Friday January 24 2020, @11:52AM

      by barbara hudson (6443) <barbara.Jane.hudson@icloud.com> on Friday January 24 2020, @11:52AM (#947903) Journal

      Sure it will. They just have to leave the stall with the newspaper open to the crossword section. It would also take their mind off them being so literally anal-retentive. Of course, this is gender-specific. Women's washrooms don't have urinals, so it's expected to take longer, especially with pantyhose in an office setting.

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