Three Helpful Hacks to Relieve Your Bathroom ‘Stage Fright’
Performance anxiety, it's a term that psychologists love to use when it comes to our ability or more so our inability to complete a function because our brains won't get out of our body's way. Maybe you feel performance anxiety when you're about to make a large presentation at work. Or, maybe your anxiety comes as your waiting for the waiter to take your order while at lunch with a group of friends.
Or, perhaps your performance anxiety comes along with the second most common social phobia known to mankind. I am speaking of the "fear" of using a public restroom. By the way, public speaking is the most common social phobia, public tinkling in this particular instance is number two.
The professionals call our inability to perform while standing at a urinal or sitting on a public toilet "shy bladder syndrome". It's a very real affliction too. People who suffer from shy bladder syndrome have difficulty urinating in a public restroom. Some even have issued urinating when someone just happens to be in the room outside the closed stall door.
So, what can you do? You still need to pee and you can only fake it and flush so many times until your eyeballs start to float inside your body. What can you do to turn your mind off and turn your bladder on?
Try Holding Your Breath, See if that won't Help.
In almost every case shy bladder syndrome can be defeated by tricking the mind into thinking about something else. One of the simplest ways to do regain control of your thoughts while you're waiting for the stream to start is to simply hold your breath. I know, that's not hard to do in a public restroom, is it?
Now, you're only going to hold your breath for a count of ten, then you're going to slowly exhale. The experts say it's usually at about the time you start to inhale on your third breath that your body has relaxed enough so that shy bladder syndrome is not an issue.
Concentrate on Something Difficult like Math.
Here's another trick that falls under the "confuse the brain" methodology. Experts say that by working on math problems in your head, you can actually relieve the pressure your brain is putting on your bladder to perform.
It doesn't matter what the math problem is, it will work. However, you want the problem to be one that you actually have to put thought into solving. This refocuses the brain and the next thing you know you've finished up at the urinal and you're washing your hands.
Find a Focal Point on the Wall and Stare.
If math isn't your strong point and the last time you held your breath you passed out there is a third method that can help you overcome your shy bladder problem. That method involves staring and concentrating at a single spot on the wall in front of you.
Just pick a point, maybe it's where the grout comes together or where there is a stain on the wall, or perhaps it's a nail hole. Find that small focal point and stare at it while you focus on it. Give it a few seconds and your bladder will realize the brain no longer has it locked up so it will begin to flow freely.
If These Don't Work, You Could Ask Your Doctor.
In rare cases, you might have a bigger issue than a mental block about using the restroom in a public setting. Well, don't be shy about asking your doctor for some advice. Many medical professionals can prescribe medicines to help you deal with anxiety and help you persuade your body to do what it was born to do. In the meantime, don't worry so much you can always just hold it until the end of the game or the concert.
Or you could confine your public outings to nature, where all the world is a bathroom and your bladder can get gladder behind the very next tree. For example, these places are some of the most scenic bathrooms in the world.
Nature Trails in Acadiana the Entire Family Can Enjoy