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Hi my names Chris I’m researching into Paruresis so I can develop a system of lowering anxiety for Paruresis sufferers in public toilets and would like to ask you all to take this online questionnaire that will literally take 2 mins or less NO PERSONAL OR CONTACT DETAILS NEEDED The information collected will benefit both my degree and Paruresis sufferers.
Hi Chris, I was a mild case before attending a ukpt workshop and now I'm even milder with just one or tiny hitches to sort out, but, from just my more personal recent experiences, I would say that this may be more common that people think, at the 'milder' end of the scale, anyway. When using larger shopping centre style loos I now notice that something like maybe 20 to 35% of guys seem to be happier heading for the cubicles rather than the urinals when other people are present, and I'm sure they're not all going to 'sit down'. In pub loos I also now notice that a significant portion of guys (a third?) will head for the cubicle rather than stand near someone else, and don't seem to think anything of it, it's just like an extension of 'urinal etiquette' to seek the biggest gaps, and they just leave the door open. So personally I'm not sure if there's a 'step change' between those who do have paruresis and those who don't, I think it's more of a continium, with a lot of guys in the border region who are comfortable with different levels of proximity to others. I've seen burly looking blokes prefer to stand in a nearby 'open door' cubicle than stand at the urinals and it doesn't even register on their faces when they exit the cubicle that they've done something unusual, they just seem to view it as finding the most space I think. These are just my own personal views though. I'd be interested in seeing what kind of percentage of the population this does occur in though. Is that in your research?
I also think that it's more common than a lot of 'normal' people think who do go to pubs etc (that's if they think of it at all) as although they may not witness half of their own friends going to the cubicle, that's probably because going to the pub in the first place is a self selecting activity in that those who have the problem will tend to avoid pubs.
I'd also think that the pub trade (and even government bodies) might be interested in your research, as I'm sure that pubs with bigger dividers (especially those shoulder to knee high panel ones) are more popular than ones with 'worse' facilities like troughs etc. I even think that's why Wetherspoons has been successful (they have v good dividers), even if they don't know it (or they're keeping it to themselves). I reckon if more pub landlords (or large pub corporations) knew of this issue they'd soon be putting in better dividers (and trickling water cysterns), and seeing a return on their money in no time at all - it's just that no one has told them!
Good luck with it. Will you keep us all posted on here?
Thanks Mike for your info, hope you’ve used the above info in the survey. I have had 14 people fill the survey out so far but I need 30 for the information to be justified. I’m also conducting a men’s and women’s survey who are not Paruresis sufferers and the information is still coming in but it shows at the moment that 11 out of the 14 asked so far have felt anxiety whilst using public toilets. As the information is coming in it looks like I’ll be developing new modesty barriers to accommodate sufferers. If you could encourage others to fill in the survey it would be much appreciated. Keep your comments coming in.
Hi Chris, Well done for your efforts on "our" behalf. Can I just say that I agree entirely with Mike's observations about the use of cubicles ? It seems to be more and more common for men to use them just for a pee rather than standing too close to another person. And why not, if you feel more comfortable and it allows you to "go" ? I have a friend who had no social life and was scared to go into a public loo a few years ago, but has now dealt with his paruresis by finding that he can pee without difficulty in a cubicle. His life has been opened up by this. It has taken me a time to see sense about this as I belong to a generation old enough to remember having to pay to use a cubicle, so who would pay a penny just to have a pee ? You used a urinal for that - or in my case you often couldn't ! So using a cubicle went against my instincts - it would have been regarded as odd. But now they are readily available I can see the sense of it and, if all else fails, I will use one myself, and I advise other sufferers to do the same if they need to. You are doing nothing unusual nowadays. Pete.
