When a problem begins to condition your life, it’s time to get down working to. This is just what happens to people suffering from paruresis, popularly known as shy bladder syndrome. We tell you what it is and how to treat this disorder.
What is paruresis or shy bladder syndrome?
As the psychologist Pedro Martínez explains to us, “those who suffer from paruresis urinate when other people are present, mainly in public toilets, but also in their private environment if there is someone nearby.”
It is a problem that, in the most extreme cases, affects the way in which the patient relates to the people around him. “The DSM-5, which is the diagnostic guide for mentally which most professionals dealing with mental health are governed, includes paruresis within social anxiety disorder, which is an intense fear or anxiety to social situations in which the subject can be analyzed by others”, explains this expert.
However, he specifies: “We must not confuse paruresis with the rejection that many people have of using public toilets due to excessive scrupulousness, which could also become a problem, since it can also affect the social life of the person but of another kind.
Who is most affected by shy bladder syndrome?
Due to the common arrangement of toilets in which male urinals in the Western world are located side by side, paruresis tends to be more common in men. However, it also affects women who tend to feel more embarrassed about the possibility that other people hear the noise when urinating.
+What are the causes of paruresis?
Difficulty urinating in a public bathroom can be caused by a physical problem, for example, a problem in the urinary system difficult and creates some anxiety about ‘what will they say’, those with whom you share a moment in bathroom.
However, the most common is that there is a psychological cause causing the problem. “Behind most cases of paruresis is a psychological problem generated by some bad experience (the mockery of a classmate, some comment questioning his “manhood”…) during puberty, which is the evolutionary moment in which this. But neither is a traumatic event an essential condition. Personality traits themselves can lead to this behavior: a, insecure and very dependent on the opinions of others, can begin to avoid urinating in public places, until a time comes when it is not that she no longer wants to, but rather that her sphincters contract in such a way that it is impossible for her to urinate”, explains the psychologist.
What are the symptoms of paruresis
Paruresis is the disorder that disables those who suffer from it to urinate in public. From there, it is common for some behaviors related.
As the psychologist points out, “the main symptom of people who experience paruresis is precisely the fear of the symptom. It is not so much the fear of urinating in front of or near other people, but the fear of not being able to do it. And in order not to face this problem, they establish a ritual of behaviors that can condition their lives and their relationship with others”.
“Everything revolves around how to organize themselves to be able to maintain this behavior: they ingest few before leaving home; they avoid being out too long or too far, or going to public places where there may be many potential toilet users; they are aware of the habits of their work or study colleagues so as not to coincide with them in the situation they fear; they avoid sexual intercourse in case before or after the act they feel the urge to urinate; They have public toilets “on file” that they can go to with some peace of mind…”
As a consequence, it is common for them to feel someanxietyand, in the most serious cases; they may avoid all social contact.
What is the most effective treatment?
This psychologist recommends following cognitive behavioral therapy. This will aim to “dismantle the erroneous and irrational thoughts they have (this only happens to me, if I can’t do it, it’s because I’m a failure and others are going to laugh at me…), and gradually confront them to the situation they fear, thus interrupting the vicious circle that keeps them in the problem: I am afraid and I do not expose myself to the situation, and since I do not expose myself I cannot succeed and I cannot verify if failure occurs or not”.
Day-to-day tricks to beat paruresis
Facing the problem little by little can be beneficial for people who suffer from it, although the help of a professional can be decisive. In any case, there are little tricks that can be carried out on a day-to-day basis to defeat paruresis.
This psychologist proposes to patients to imagine different situations related to their problem that generate anxiety from there, they can be scored from less to more to face them in a progressive way.
It can also be reassuring to you trust to help you through this process of escalation. “The next step would be to expose you in public bathrooms, if possible in those conditions in which most people act without problem.”
“The goal doesn’t have to be to urinate next to other people if you don’t feel comfortable in that situation. For some people, being able to do it in a closed cubicle even when there are people outside can already is a success. The important thing is that it does not condition your life and that it does not prevent you from having a satisfying social life”.