Paruresis [pahr-yew-ree-sis] is a type of phobia in which the sufferer is unable to urinate in the (real or imaginary) presence of others, such as in a public restroom. It most commonly affects males, though there are female sufferers too. The analogous condition that affects bowel movement is called parcopresis.
Many people have brief, isolated episodes of urinary difficulty in situations where other people are in close proximity. Paruresis is also known by many colloquial terms, including bashful bladder, bashful kidneys, mental cloggery, stage fright, pee fright, urophobia, pee-shyness, the slow dribbles, creeping pee-pee, public piss syndrome, shy bladder syndrome, air-blockage, and psychogenic urinary retention.
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September 28, 2010