The first time I remember dealing with the problem was when I had to stay with neighbours for a week when I was 9 because my mother had to go on a business trip to Japan. Luckily for me I had to go back to our house to walk and feed the dog. I just couldn't bring myself to go at the neighbours house while I was there so I would just go when I went home to take care of the dog. Unfortunately, as the house was being renovated at the time, the place was full of workmen during the day. But I was still able to go in the evenings. One evening though, I noticed one of the contractors was still there working on the upstairs, but I needed to go really bad so I went in the toilet in the basement. As work was still being done on the basement though, there was no door and when the workman came downstairs to pick up a tool he had left behind, he passed by the bathroom! He seemed really embarassed (as was I) and quickly walked off saying "oops! sorry" My problem isn't so severe as some of the cases on this board... usually I can go as long as I am absolutely alone or the only one on the floor of the house. But I definitely cannot go in public bathrooms unless I am absolutely assured that no one will walk in (which is obviously rare). Essentially, I want NO ONE to know that I'm taking a poop. As long as no one knows I'm ok. I also have to go completely naked and can't have a single article of clothing on while I do. I remember being terrified when I first went to University and the thought of the shared bathroom at the dorm. I managed during that year in residence by figuring out what points in the day no one was around and just going then. I figured this out to be mid-day when everyone was at class, or very late/early morning (3-4am) when everyone had gone to sleep. I also managed to find an all but forgotten toilet in an obscure building on campus where no one was ever around and used that alot too. Luckily, I was placed in a dorm where each bathroom was shared by only 6 people, so it was easy enough to find times where on one was around. Some of the residences on campus had massive communal toilets shared by over 20 people! As I mentioned in another post, in addition to finding obscure toilets and times where no one is around, another coping mechanism I've used is the running water noise cover-up. I can go as long as I think that the people outside the bathroom door don't think I'm going. So if I run the shower, then they'll think I'm taking a shower instead of taking a poop. This is how I manage when sharing hotel rooms or visiting friends for weekend or longer stays. This recently became a problem for me when I met a new girlfriend and started spending alot of nights at her place. I'm still in grad. school and she was in a dorm with communal toilets. It became an issue because she wanted to lie really close to me at night and hold me as we slept, but the heat of her body really made me uncomfortable having gone long without taking a crap. So I had to be all aloof and sleep apart from her, which i know hurt her. I lied and said that I was just very hot (we lived in a hot climate city) but I really resented the fact that i couldn't be more physically affectionate with her. Parcuresis has also limited my options in that it prevented me from wanting to join the military which I had thought seriously of at one point in my life and still do to an extent. I had debated about applying to the Royal Military College (i'm originally from Canada) when I was in my teens and had even contemplated joining the officer corps after graduation with my BA, but in all seriousness the main drawback was the bathroom situation which would have been unavoidable. Just thinking about the group toilet arrangements as shown in "Full Metal Jacket" makes me shudder. Anyways, I just felt the need to add my story to the list and thank everyone for sharing their advice and experiences to this annoying problem. I actually have a few other horror stories about parcuresis, but I think I'll reserve those until I've become more comfortable with discussing my problem.
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