For those who remember life before the internet, information came from newspapers, libraries, magazines, encyclopaedias, and writing letters to ask for information. This worked for most topics, but not for paruresis, which was rarely mentioned, leaving many people with the condition feeling isolated. Then came social media and mobile phones, which ...

Christopher Zara didn't finish high school and can sometimes feel like an outsider working in a field where it's more common to have a college degree. Sometimes he's able to push through his social anxiety, to put on a tough face. But other times his body won't give him a chance to feel at ease – it seizes up, and in Christopher's case that means n...

Have a listen to our first podcast. This is based on a blog post originally written for us by a student who has attended a workshop. He wanted to raise awareness of shy bladder syndrome, but also to try and reach out to other students who may be experiencing paruresis. His hope was that it would help them to know that they don't need to suffer in s...

It happens to everyone in all walks of life. Things are going well and you're succeeding at everything you're striving towards. Then, suddenly, things don't go to plan. An unexpected setback throws your confidence, and next thing you know you're in the midst of self-doubt. This may well be familiar to people who have been on a UK Paruresis Trust wo...

We've all been there. You're on the bus/train and there are lots of empty seats. Someone you don't know gets on and sits on the seat right next to you. You wonder why. You ask yourself, 'wouldn't they rather sit in a nice spacious area with no one cramping their style?' We all have a need for personal space around us – that's the distance we prefer...

How often do we hear that phrase? Practice is how we learn to play a musical instrument, throw a bullseye in darts, learn to skate, run faster, jump higher, dance better – the secret behind all these skills is to practice. The more we practice, the better our progress. For anyone who has attended a UK Paruresis Trust shy bladder workshop you'll kno...

I recently listened to a podcast, which discussed how trustworthy, or not, online reviews are. According to several consumer organisations, up to 1 in 3 may be fake. As the use of Artificial Intelligence tools becomes more commonplace, it may become even harder to tell genuine reviews from convincing fakes which are designed to mislead the reader. ...

By a current 3rd year Arts and Humanities NTU student Content warning – This blog mentions substance abuse and suicidal feelings which some readers may find triggering Hello! I'm a third-year humanities student here at NTU and I have Paruresis also known as Shy Bladder Syndrome. Now, If you don't know what this is, then allow me to explain… Parures...

Having looked at the forums and known about the UKPT workshops for around five years, I finally built up the courage to attend a beginners workshop last week.So many people seem to say this of the workshops that it seems like a bit of cliche, however, it is true. I do wish I had done this earlier.I have suffered from AP for nearly 20 years. I have ...

Living With Avoidance Paruresis Avoidance Paruresis is the medical term for a condition known as shy bladder. This condition effects a persons ability to urinate while out socialising in public places or in many instances in the persons own home while others are present.I have lived with this condition since childhood but only recently discovered t...

I am a 65-year old woman, and I have suffered from the condition I now know is called paruresis for most of my life. It started when I was 17. At primary school I trained myself not to use the loos all day because they were disgusting and I couldn't stand the smell. It wasn't a big problem, however. I could use the smelly loos if I had to. At secon...

I reckon my road to AP started at the age of around 10. I remember during a school medical the old witch of a School Nurse pulled my underpants down to do a few checks and pokes, and I started to get an erection. She gave such a look of derision to my mother who was also present – that I remember thinking 'well if you don't like it, then don't fidd...

Now that I think back, I am aware that I first had a problem using public loos around the age of 10 or 11. I don't remember anything before this. I did have an unpleasant incident when I was about 8 but I don't know if this started it or not. I went to high school for six years and peed about twice in that time. I left the house at 8 in the morning...

I vaguely remember the first time I ever had a problem peeing which was when I was about eleven or twelve years old. I have this memory of me standing in front of the toilet and trying to pee but nothing was happening! I told my father, who took me to see his doctor. His doctor diagnosed that the end of my foreskin was closing up and prescribed som...

 As a child and young adult, I "suffered" greatly from paruresis, believing I was the only one in the world with this affliction. I felt intense shame, even self-loathing because of it and went to great lengths to conceal the problem. I'm sure you all know what this is like! However, about 20 years ago, I discovered that it is actually a very ...

From a letter received by the UKPT. A fortnight ago, I was found to have a partially detached retina and told immediate surgery was necessary. I explained to the consultant that this would present enormous problems re the use of hospital toilets and gave him some UKPT literature. He took it very seriously indeed and I was admitted to a room in the ...

Posted by Baz on 6/6/2002 As is the very healthy tradition on this website, people give feedback on their progress to offer encouragement and information to other sufferers. And so it's my turn. Here's a list of what's helped me to get to where I'm at now: breaking the silence barrier There's already a post exclusively about this so no need to redo...

psychological treatment for bashfull bladder* Baruch Elitzur, Ph.D. Psychiatric Clinic, Ichilov Hospital, Tel Aviv Medical Center Translated by Judith Barrett, M.A. Judy Barrett, IPA staffer, has translated this article (in the Jewish Journal Harefuah) from the original Hebrew, and we have permission from the author to post it. abstract "Bashful bl...

My counsellor asked me a few weeks back to state the outcome I was looking for regarding my toilet phobia. I told him that I wanted to be able to urinate freely in any and every situation. Then he asked me if I would be prepared to settle for anything less; for example, would being able to urinate in a cubicle in any situation improve the quality o...

I've had paruresis for so long that I can't even remember how it started. I have a vague memory of standing in line with some cub scouts when I was about seven and being under some kind of time pressure, which is followed by memories of standing in front of the school trough-urinal and not being able to do anything – much to my own bemusement. From...