Posted by 12345 on 30/11/2012, 9:26 pm

I would say I found it difficult to use urinals, well, because I never used them. Raised by a single mother I spent the first part of my childhood visiting the women's bathrooms (obviously without urinals). It wasn't actually till my later teens I realised I had a problem and this was a phobia. I can say I have gone from never having used a urinal before a few years back, to now using them the majority of the time if I need to urinate only. What worked for me was taking it gradually. I started by using the cubical with the door unlocked but found there is the risk of people mistakenly walking in on you. So instead at home or in a cubicle I would visualise that I was using a urinal. I also used the cubical with the door open (actually a lot better than above), and if the toilets were empty use the urinal. I was blessed working in a large office with many toilets, some on quiet/barely used floors so lots of "practice". Other than that I have not needed to try anything, it just clicked into place. I can now use urinals fine if people are in the toilet and at the sinks, or if there is enough space with the urinals/good partitions. I've even used a urinal whilst talking to a friend at the sinks, something I would have thought impossible a few years back. The only time I struggle is if the toilets are particularly busy, or if I have to take a urinal next to someone. I'm fine if I've started and someone comes next to me, but things like trough urinals are still a bit tricky. Oh, one more thing. I find "breath holding" or taking a deep breath in really helps relax the bladder if you "lock up". I hope this provides at least some benefit to somebody. Thanks for reading a good luck! If I can go from an adult urinal-virgin to religious user there is certainly hope!

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