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.
Using the toilet makes you vulnerable. You're in a little space where you have no view, you can't move because you're engaged in a bodily function over which you have limited control, and you're in various stages of undress.
Which makes me wonder, is this why men seem to take so much satisfaction in being able to "go" on the top of something?
..Loos in the UK are just fine. They do not harbor monster hairy spiders...
Then why do I have to witness 2 hooligans urinating on the wall at Victoria station behind the bus stop at rush hour waiting for No 82 Bus? (With the ubiquotous 2 liter beer can in the other hand)... and about the young(?)lady defecating in the plaza in front of Westminster Cathedral at 8AM on my way to work...
Some Londoners must have such a Loo Phobia that they would rather do it on the streets. Is that the reason for this behavior?
Regards, Ivan
For me it was "Hiku".
And yes I know how to spell haiku :)
Now my heart has healed because of "Wu".
(4 pound female Yorkie w/ a puppy cut)
I'm waiting for someone who actually suffers from this phobia, to chime in and point out how cruel you all are for POO-POO-ing this terrible affliction.
Regards, Ivan
We both can be Right, y'know. Right, not nice. Regards.
Either we are equal or we are not. Good people should be armed where they will, with wits and guns.
Believe it or not. It's the truth! I work in lab in a medical clinic. One of our female patients told me she can't give a urine sample at the clinic, and could she please take the container home and collect it there? She has sometimes been in the clinic bathroom for 20 -30 minutes without producing a sample. She admits it's psychological and told me she goes shopping only on short expeditions so she can go back home and use her own bathroom!
I spoke with this one earlier...she knows how to use your phone. She says she'll be clingining to the underside of the bowl all day today, waiting for you to come in and have a seat.
She also says, by the way, that Ivan is quite handsome, even from her accustomed angle.
If I had to use a public toilet, then I'd be scared to! Have you seen those things?
Oh bloody hell.
Regards, Ivan
OK, I've pulled myself together now.
That was not nice!
I really was not expecting that, and I really did scream very loudly!
Mean, mean, mean boys.
Spiders have too many legs.
;)
Well, I don't personally ahve a problem with using public facilities, but I do have recurring dreams about going into a public bathroom which has water all over the floor and bits and pieces of wet toilet paper on the floor. Often the dream goes back to the first public school I was in, an old yellow-brick building with the toilets in the basement. It's sort of humorous, as I cannot remember the bathrooms there being dirty at all. So it's a strange sort of bathroom phobia, but only in my dreams.
I also think it's a female thing. you guys just do not appreciate how much easier you have it with public bathrooms. HaHa! Boo Hoo!
Regards, Ivan
I understand that it would be downright ungentlemanly of me to celebrate Mrs. Ivan's discomfiture. At the same time, it's difficult for me to apologize with any sincerity between fits of giggling.
My better instincts tell me I ought to make nice, so...
Please, Mrs. Ivan, I'm sorry. I won't do that to you again.
They have a toothbrush phobia as well.
If I had a fiver for every single time a British bad teeth joke was said here, I'd be able to buy Microsoft. It's neither original or true. Or funny for that matter.
Ivan
No worries (but don't laugh too much).
Around spiders I am a wimp, especially large, scary, unexpected spiders.
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