End your shy bladder problem once and for all!

Do you think you are the only one who has ever had difficulty urinating in public restrooms? Have you ever had the uncomfortable sensations of a full bladder go on and on because you didn't want to admit that you were not able to go when you stopped in at the bathroom in the mall, airport, gas station, or other public restroom location?

You are not alone. This is called shy bladder syndrome. Many people privately puzzle over such symptoms, which may come and go, and may appear at the worst possible times. You are in the right place to learn more about what to do to end this problem. As a side note, this advice is only for those who have trouble peeing exclusively in public bathroom-type settings. If you always have trouble peeing, consult your physician.

First some basic background understanding for you, then I'll let you in on the secret for ending the problem. Shy bladder is one manifestation of social anxiety. Everyone has some degree of social anxiety unless you are a sociopath. People with mild social anxiety tend to be very socially aware (i.e., have good people skills because they read others well). At times, being overly tuned in to what others are thinking about you gives you an advantage in life, at other times, it gives you a disadvantage. When you walk up to a public urinal and find that your full bladder simply won't release, your social awareness is working against you. Here's what to do. You have to undo the psychological cause in order to undo the physical problem of being unable to urinate. The psychological cause is that, without realizing it, you are observing yourself through the eyes of the other people in the restroom. What I mean is that you are mentally projecting yourself into the other person's perspective (e.g. whether they hear your pee splattering the toilet or not, or whether they think you've been standing there an awful long time). This puts you in a psychological state of alert, which is not conducive to the relaxation of your bladder. In order to undo this state of alert, you need to go to an extreme in your mind that is the opposite of what your natural instincts tell you.

One of the best ways to accomplish this is to imagine that you are angry. Imagine that you can see a smug smiley face drawn on a sidewalk. Imagine that the smug face is smiling at you like a bully who is laughing at you because you can't pee and you have this uncomfortable predicament. Use all the force of your willpower to imagine that smiley face as vividly as you can and then try to pee on it to make it disappear from the sidewalk (like rain would do to chalk on a sidewalk).

Trying not to think about what others are thinking about you will not work for the same reason that it doesn't work to "try" to forget a big furry gorilla. If I keep telling you, "forget the gorilla," it won't work. But if I say, "Think of a big, bright, pink, shiny elephant," you will begin to forget the gorilla. Use the same principle. Don't try to stop thinking about the fact that others are in the restroom. Rather, try will all your might to see that smug smiley face in the urinal or toilet and say something in your mind, like, "You think you're funny? Laugh at THIS!"

The approach may seem rather odd to you at first, but many of my patients with social anxiety have found this technique to work wonders. If it doesn't work right away, you will need to practice going to restrooms in public places on purpose on a daily or every other day bases to practice. This is because anxiety only ends when you face it down, and sometimes it's not enough to face it down once in a great while when you're out in a public place and can't avoid using a public bathroom.

Another thing you may need to add is some good self-talk before you go in to the bathroom or once you're in there. There is a tendency for people to imagine that everyone is noticing them and that people are observing our every move (a trait of people who are socially anxious). This is not reality though. So you may benefit from reminding yourself as you walk into a bathroom that no one cares how long you stand at that urinal. They are lost in their own thoughts. They have better things to do than to worry about whether you pee fast, slow, or not at all.

One more thing: Don't leave that stall or urinal until you have been successful. This is crucial to avoid making the problem worse. Anxiety only retreats when you stick around long enough for it to do so. Tell yourself you are going to beat this problem once and for all, even if someone gets irritated as they stand behind you waiting for you to finish. If they end up using another urnial when someone else finishes, and they leave, they will never think of you again. But if you zip up and leave to avoid feeling embarrased, you will only compound your embarrasment over the years. Face the problem down. Your long-term comfort is worth the short-term discomfort of the social anxiety you will feel by refusing to leave until you have successfully urniated.

If this isn't enough to get you over the problem (after several weeks of trying), consider consulting a psychologist who specializes in social anxiety. If this information was helpful to you, I guarantee that you will highly benefit from looking at the following system for reducing your overall levels of social anxiety. See it now by clicking here--Social Anxiety Help