Avoidant Paruresis - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Blasphemy. · 02-08-2005, 11:42 PM

What is avoidant paruresis?

Avoidant paruresis (also known as 'bashful bladder' syndrome or psychogenic urinary retention) is a social anxiety disorder that involves the inability to pass urine in the presence of others. Avoidant paruresis can start at any age and affects mainly boys or men, although girls and women can also suffer from it.

The frequency of the condition is difficult to estimate, but surveys suggest that up to 7 per cent of the population may have paruresis, and this figure could be an underestimate.

Does anybody here have it? I do, it's a pain. I'm just curious how some of you cope with it?

Rodney · 02-09-2005, 06:52 AM

I acquired it as a teen, lost it in my 20s. How do you cope? Take the urinal at the end of the line, or use a stall. If I really worked at it, I could force myself to do so in the presence of others; but it'd take 30 seconds or so to start. And after a while, you notice that a fair number of guys take a while to get started. Don't get self-conscious about standing there a while. Nobody'll say anything; they really aren't paying attention to anything but their own business.

I find it no coincidence that my episode went from adolescence into early adulthood. I see it as some kind of psychological side effect of all the other things that were going on in my life then. And when I got a handle on them, it eased off.

Different people get it for different reasons, all psychological as far as I know. For some it lasts decades, for others a few years. I knew one guy who as a seven-year-old had had to piss in a crowded ballpark men's room in one of those huge long communal urinals with dozens of adult men, and it so bent his brain that he had trouble for decades after that.

02-08-2005, 11:42 PM	#1 (permalink)
Blasphemy. Tilted	Avoidant Paruresis What is avoidant paruresis? Avoidant paruresis (also known as 'bashful bladder' syndrome or psychogenic urinary retention) is a social anxiety disorder that involves the inability to pass urine in the presence of others. Avoidant paruresis can start at any age and affects mainly boys or men, although girls and women can also suffer from it. The frequency of the condition is difficult to estimate, but surveys suggest that up to 7 per cent of the population may have paruresis, and this figure could be an underestimate. Does anybody here have it? I do, it's a pain. I'm just curious how some of you cope with it?

02-09-2005, 06:52 AM	#2 (permalink)
Rodney Observant Ruminant Location: Rich Wannabe Hippie Town	I acquired it as a teen, lost it in my 20s. How do you cope? Take the urinal at the end of the line, or use a stall. If I really worked at it, I could force myself to do so in the presence of others; but it'd take 30 seconds or so to start. And after a while, you notice that a fair number of guys take a while to get started. Don't get self-conscious about standing there a while. Nobody'll say anything; they really aren't paying attention to anything but their own business. I find it no coincidence that my episode went from adolescence into early adulthood. I see it as some kind of psychological side effect of all the other things that were going on in my life then. And when I got a handle on them, it eased off. Different people get it for different reasons, all psychological as far as I know. For some it lasts decades, for others a few years. I knew one guy who as a seven-year-old had had to piss in a crowded ballpark men's room in one of those huge long communal urinals with dozens of adult men, and it so bent his brain that he had trouble for decades after that.