Posted by AndyM on 9/2/2008, 7:59 pm, in reply to "Re: Release at last"

Ah...then you're a step ahead. I think the only way out of this phobia is through, not around. Which means we have to place ourselves in situations that we're used to either avoiding or running away from (like "bailing out" from a urinal). Anyone who refused military induction in a war that, by far, most of the citizenry regarded as "good," certainly has the Courage of their convictions. {Take a Salute}. For me, Workshops have been the answer. When you're with men and women who all understand what if feels like to suffer from shy bladder, and who are all rooting for you, it somehow empowers you to be able to pee in situations where you usually can't. Thereby teaching your phobic brain, "YES I CAN!!" That's some pretty powerful stuff, and it has the tendency to stay with you. I'm not "cured" and I'm no expert, but as an example, airplane travel used to be about a 9 on the 10-scale for me. Now, three Workshops later, it's about a 4. Before leaving the house, I used to say to myself, "How will I pee? Where will I pee? When will I pee?" Now I think, "I don't know when, where or how, but I know I'll pee." The quality of my life has much-improved since my first Workshop. I'm not fond of cities myself (I'll take a big rock in a stream to a football stadium any day) but if that's where the Workshops are, then that's where I'm going. Maybe I'll explore a foreign restaurant or a museum while I'm there. What's that Mr. Churchill said after the victory in Africa? "This isn't the end. It's not even the beginning of the end. But it is the end of the beginning." That's how I felt after my first Workshop. Welcome to The Fight.

449