MEN ONLY!!! Stage fright when using public urinals.

[Johno]

I hate using public toilets (bathrooms). I feel like I am performing before an audience and I try to avoid it at all costs. I think they call it stage fright.. Anyone relate???

 

[2Crowded]

.....I always go for the stalls.....that way I can relax better...plus spread out more....& not have anyone right next to me....hate looking smack dab at a wall too.

 

[LLawliet]

I used to be like that too,but it is better now I can at least be standing there when there are people,but I cant pee,I only pee when they get out.

 

[lucifersam]

Actually, this condition is called paruresis. I suffer from it pretty severely. I find it physically impossible to use a public restroom unless it is completely unoccupied. I also cannot use restrooms in people's houses (or my own house for that matter) if there is someone in hearing distance. I developed this long before social anxiety, by the way.

It is pretty debilitating, almost to the level of SA. I have to plan my day at college around what time the bathrooms will be empty. Sometimes I find myself being out somewhere and holding out as long as I can without using the bathroom, until finally I can't take it anymore and I have to leave. With SA it's like a double-whammy.

Yeah it pretty much sucks.

 

[Zarrix]

I only have this in public urinals that are not closed behind doors. I can go to a public toilet provided I go to the stool behind the locked door. If they are full, I wait until one is available instead of using the others.

 

[Carstuar]

I prefer to use a stall as well, and I also find it way more difficult if there are noises. This applies to other people's houses, too.
It's not completely debilitating in my case. I can do it, but it's uncomfortable, and I just want to get it over with.

 

[Digitaldreams]

A close buddy of mine,who never suffered from SA,used to use the stall while I always used the urinal(he kept the stall door open too). Years later,I thought about this & I realized that going in a stall,instead of a urinal,is just more "civilized". I mean,if one were to wizz about the streets in the open it would be considered "uncivilized" so why is it ok to pee publicly in these urinals,which often have no barriers or almost no barriers between them.

Our bathrooms could be more uncivilized though. At least we don't have the type of public bathrooms the ancient Romans did. (check out the picture - http://infohost.nmt.edu/~rmilner/photos/NewZealand2005/images/20050615b_S_WanakaPuzzlingToilets.jpg )

 

[LLawliet]

nasty

 

[recluse]

If there are two guys on each side of an urinal i will go to a cubicle. Many times i have not been able to pee and i'd walk from the toilet even though i was desperate, and i'd feel embarassed incase they would somehow know that i hadn't urinated.

 

[Daz]

I can totally relate to this.

The only time i really use public toilets is when I'm out on the razzle

I wait at the bar checking out the door to the toilets to see how much people are using them.

But when i eventually go to use the urinals i just can't get anything out, it's really frustrating.

I usually have to go to the bathroom 2-3 times before urinating. :lol:

 

[Harp]

Oh, good to know I'm not the only one. I've been out with friends and said I needed to go to the bathroom, and they've chimed in with "Yeah, me too." Then within a second of unzipping, they're pissing away while I'm trying to get going. I've had a few situations where I've had to say: "Don't you hate it when you think you have to pee and you don't?" Then I'd have to make excuses to go back. Given the choice, I'll always go for the urinal. Larry David has the same problem.

 

[Johno]

Yes, I can relate to most of what you have said. Personally I always try to locate a personal place where I can pee. If it's crowded, I'll look elsewhere. Or at the last resort totally cover myself up and then pee. I mean certain hand movements can be effective etc.... Cheers