Have you ever felt like maybe you could just wait to go to the bathroom until you get home? Sure you have, everyone has found a public restroom that they wanted to avoid. If hitting up a public restroom is just out of the question for you than it may be a bit more than the desire just not to use a public restroom.
There is actually a phobia that is associated with using a public restroom. The phobia is like all phobias in that it can be actually quite paralyzing and involves more than a simple feeling of fear. The physical aspect of the fear of public restrooms can be debilitating.
Your palms can get sweaty and that may be the end of it but you can also get to the point of hyperventilation, dizziness, fainting, nausea and a host of other very physical symptoms that are triggered by fear.
Shame, Humiliation and Guilt
This type of fear is actually quite more prevalent than you may think. It of course like all phobias or fears, go without consequence. People that suffer from the fear of public restrooms may feel shame, humiliation and even guilt.
The shame and the humiliation is part of the fear. It sounds silly to be afraid of a public restroom. It can be very difficult to explain to people and of course it denies oneself the fulfillment of a physical need (elimination) which can trigger feelings of guilt.
This is very likely way on the top of the list of public fears but it is not very talked about and can lead to feelings of isolation. Suffers are not supported and since there is little public recognition of this disorder there is not a lot of information about the disorder that is shared.
The shame also comes from feelings of being “the only one” since it is not typically recognized and discussed by the mental health community. For some people the fear becomes so life altering that other fears develop in response.
Agoraphobia (the fear of leaving the house) can develop in response to this phobia. The premise is that the agoraphobia can develop because the fear of using the public restroom is present and of course if you leave the house you may get to the point where you HAVE to use a public restroom which of course is not possible.
Like all fears that are phobic the fear of public restrooms can be debilitating and affect every aspect of one’s life.