Thanks for the chuckle !!!
Posted on 11/11/2006 4:54:47 AM PST by MadIvan
At least four million Britons suffer from debilitating toilet phobias and most are too embarrassed to seek help, the National Phobics Society (NPS) said.
The NPS, which works with people affected by anxiety disorders, has classified the "secret" problem of toilet phobia as an anxiety condition in its own right and is launching a new campaign to help sufferers.
Toilet phobias range from a mild dislike of public loos to obsessions where sufferers refuse to leave their homes or even undergo potentially life-saving medical examinations.
The NPS said extreme sufferers are often unable to leave their homes, deny themselves fluids which can harm their kidneys, or take drugs to prevent any perceived or real "accidents."
The organisation argues the medical profession needs educating about toilet phobia in order to encourage sufferers to come forward and hopes its new campaign will go some way to tackling the issue.
The NPS believes that the stigma surrounding the phobia means that many people refuse to admit they have a problem.
"It is known as the 'secret' or 'silent' phobia because of its double whammy impact," said Nicky Lidbetter, manager of the NPS, which is launching the Toilet Phobia campaign at the Anxiety Disorders Conference in Manchester on Saturday.
"Few people will talk about having an anxiety disorder in the first place, but for them to admit they have a toilet-related phobia is rare because of the obvious embarrassment and humiliation of being laughed at or not being taken seriously."
"But, no matter how funny we might find it, it's certainly no laughing matter for almost seven per cent of the population who are reported to suffer from this condition."
The NPS has identified a correlation between Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) linked to a fear of contamination, Agoraphobia, Paruresis ("shy bladder" syndrome or fear of urinating in the company of others) and Parcopresis ("bashful bowel" syndrome, or the inability to defecate in public toilets).
They are collectively known as toilet-related phobias.
The problem can have serious implications for employers with absenteeism from work.
Many sufferers will not take a job if a toilet is located off a communal area and they can be observed going in or out, and will even create fictions of going to the photocopier or the staff kitchen rather than be seen going into the toilet, the NPS said.
Clinical psychologist and cognitive behaviour therapist, Professor Paul Salkovskis, said the attitude of society in general towards going to the toilet was part of the problem.
"Around the world we use a lot of humour and euphemism to describe what is a basic human function," he said.
"We say 'I'm going to the bathroom' or 'I'm going to powder my nose' because there is a taboo surrounding using the toilet."
Treatments include cognitive behaviour therapy, which helps people to break the cycle of faulty thinking, and hypnosis, which utilises techniques such as visualisation and guided imagery to bring about relaxation.
Argh, you beat me to the punch. ;-D
The ones who have the problem are probably laughing the loudest.
Regards, Ivan
Thanks for the chuckle !!!
Dear, you know I suffer from Algoreaphobia violently. Fortunately I still have the bucket I keep by the bed for when I watch the BBC.
Love, Ivan
Sorry you are right. I am getting a phobia over all these phobias A Phobia Phobia.
Toilet Phobia...
Would this be called
toibia?
loobia?
Wham!bia?
This comes from some long forgotten just discovered book of fairy tales, yes?
How many mama's have said to their families to go before they leave the house?
Regards, Ivan
"I know I just said this to you personally, but I think the question ought to be shared with a wider audience.
What happens when a person with a severe toilet-phobia sees a loo?
Do they sh!t themselves?"
No. Ya just hold it in until you can get home. Seriously, I have this "problem". My husband and I attended a 3 day outdoor music festival a while back and all they had were port-a-johns. No WAY was I going to use one for #2, so I held it for 3 days until we got to a hotel. My hubby refers to me as a poop camel now as I can hold anything for days if needed.
In my 13 years in the workforce before staying home with our son, never once did I go #2 at work. Ever.
I'm not proud of it, but I just can't go #2 in public. Interestingly enough, I've spoken with my girlfriends about this and none of them go #2 in public restrooms either, unless it is an absolute emergency. I think women are trained to hold til we get home (although not to the extreme to which I take it). My husband says men just go wherever there's a toilet - no shame, no embarrassment. Must be nice.
As I type this, my 7 month old is sitting in his highchair chomping Cheerios, and, you guessed it, going #2. Too funny.
Our local gay males prefer the woods and shrubs of our local public parks. It's about the only time they ever go in bush in their life. ;-)
Ivan: The Democrats could solve this problem if it wasn't for the mean Republicans.
And justifiably so. Like many people, I had to take psychology courses. Whether people dust of their old textbooks, or rummage through the Encyclopaedia of Human Behavior, or the MMPI Casebook, or whatever, come on, has anyone ever heard of this, seriously?
I think the National Health made it up so they can announce cures and treatments for it.
It is so much less challenging and costly than treating Kidney Disease, for example.
Loos in the UK are just fine. They do not harbor monster hairy spiders or bogeymen.
More likely, it is a manifestation of the ubiquitous Big Brother Surviellance Cameras that did it, where CREEPY little wankers sit in a darkened room spying on their neighbors instead of dealing with violent criminals.
Regards, Ivan
I have a somewhat similar problem. The fews times I've been in the hospital in the last 20 yars and have had to use a bed pan to urinate, I've found it an absdolute devil to make anything flow and its all paychological.
Maybe they're afraid of meeting George Michael.
aka
Wakemeupbeforeyougogosis.
Mrs Ivan has a very different view on that.
Regards, Ivan
Way TMI
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