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Thread: Fear of Toilets

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
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    Fear of Toilets

    I have an embarrassing fear. One that I am able to cope with in small steps.

    Ever since being a child I have a fear of toilets, particularly the black seated ones with high cisterns and a chain dangling down.

    I am ok with toilets I 'get to know' so my home toilets, my mums toilet and my work toilets are all ok but any other toilet before I open the door I feel fear building up inside me as it swings open to reveal the monster with a gaping mouth! Its really silly but its genuine.

    I dont even know if there is a name for this sort of fear.

    One thing makes it worse, I have IBS and have the need to use the toilet many times a day..so I have to make sure there is a 'friendly' toilet on my route

    Ive just noticed the toilet phobia thread on this page, but on reading it its not the same phobia...mine is less to do with needing to use one but actual fear of the toilet itself. My mum used to have to sit on the back of the toilet seat so I couldnt see the 'eyes' on the lid, while I perched on the edge.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Posts
    823

    Re: Fear of Toilets

    Hi
    All phobias are essentially irrational so yours isn't silly at all, it's just less common. People have fears of all sorts of things, I went to school with someone who had a phobia of milk!

    Have you had any therapy for this? CBT can be very useful with phobias. I used to have agoraphobia and found a technique called graded exposure helped. This is where you face the fear and, in small steps, do the things you're scared of until you become desensitised.

    Perhaps this would mean visiting different toilets for you? You might want to try a shopping centre on the high street or cafes etc. I also used to be terrified of lifts but I went to Primark where they only have a ground floor and first floor and went up and down in the lift there because I could get out if I needed to, since it didn't go very far. It was practically a cure for me, really, really helped.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Posts
    13

    Re: Fear of Toilets

    Quote Originally Posted by harasgenster View Post
    Hi
    All phobias are essentially irrational so yours isn't silly at all, it's just less common. People have fears of all sorts of things, I went to school with someone who had a phobia of milk!

    Have you had any therapy for this? CBT can be very useful with phobias. I used to have agoraphobia and found a technique called graded exposure helped. This is where you face the fear and, in small steps, do the things you're scared of until you become desensitised.

    Perhaps this would mean visiting different toilets for you? You might want to try a shopping centre on the high street or cafes etc. I also used to be terrified of lifts but I went to Primark where they only have a ground floor and first floor and went up and down in the lift there because I could get out if I needed to, since it didn't go very far. It was practically a cure for me, really, really helped.
    Hi

    I am getting better than I was, as long as the toilets are modern and clean and of the indoor sort...the ones at old railway stations and parks still terrify me. Its the same feeling I get when spotting a spider!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Posts
    823

    Re: Fear of Toilets

    Good.

    What I would do in your position was try my best to go and sit on a toilet I was terrified of for as long as I could. Then do it every day.

    Not easy to get the hang of but believe me it works!


  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Posts
    2,587

    Re: Fear of Toilets

    jfc I don't like public toilets either and will try to find one in a shop if necessary. I'm not phobic but most people have found toilets that are pretty grim. School toilets were the worst where the senior girls wanted you out asap because they wanted to smoke in them. They also climbed up and looked in! Train toilets are the worst and one toilet I had to walk out of as it was 'full' in Oulton Broad. My mum was often in the loo with us when I was little. I hated that but thankfully it did not make me phobic. Hypnosis might be of help to you? You could face the fear in a non threatening enviroment and then find ways to relax and deal with it. Best of luck. EJ.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Posts
    13

    Re: Fear of Toilets

    I agree about train toilets ElizabethJane, they squash you up right next to the bowl so you cant escape when you open the door and they are often disgusting. I always hover about a scary toilet (So I can quickly pull my knickers up and run out if the toilet comes alive!!)...only joking but the thing is thats why I couldnt go to a hypnotist..its such a funny phobia.

    I have more normal fears too...Im terrified of dogs, if a toy poodle on a lead was coming towards me with its owner, I would rush over to the otherside of the road and pretend I meant to cross over at that point, even if it meant taking a long detour getting to my destination. Spiders too, although that seems less as I am getting older, I used to know instinctively when one would appear, and sure enough I would open my eyes and there it would be with all 8 eyes looking at me...I then would have to stare back and not move in case it jumped or lunged at me...

    This is a wonderful website and forum..such nice people x

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
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    2,587

    Re: Fear of Toilets

    Jfc I am not suggesting a hypnotist. I went to see a trained hypnotherapist for help with some of my problems. He is also a GP.

  8. #8

    Re: Fear of Toilets

    I have the same fear! I've also had this fear since I was a child and would really like to overcome it. It's more annoying for me than anything. I too have to 'get to know' a toilet before I am comfortable using it. I can not stand toilet's that automatically flush themselves. They terrify me. I had one flush while I was still using it. I've gotten to where I can actually go on one since they are so common in shopping centers, etc.. I just prefer not to. I even have occasional nightmares associated with toilets which is the reason I looked up 'toilet phobias' online. I can't imagine having IBS with this fear! That must be terrible!

  9. #9

    Re: Fear of Toilets

    Hi.

    I have, since I was a little girl, suffered from anxiety of going to the toilet. Not as most, not being able to go, but to actually be near and of course especially on the toilet.
    I don't feel ashamed about it, and I do tell most people around me, as it is something that is influent on my everyday-life.
    It mostly appears when toilet that flush it self, hi-tech-toilets, small restrooms, as in flights (I can't stand the airplane-toilets!)..
    So mostly, public toilets are my problem. And I hate it. I hate, that I can't just go when I have to. Sometimes I just hold the pee.. But because I have a small bladder and have to go quiet often, mostly I can't.

    I live in Dubai, but my home country is Denmark, and we go home 2 times a year. That's 4 flights of 7 hours, maybe more, if not a direct flight. That means, that I sometimes have to pee most of the trip, but if it becomes very unpleasant, as in hurting and so, I go out to the toilet, just standing there, looking at the toilet, shaking, sweating, my heartbeat goes all the way up. Then I usually go back to my seat without peeing, but then I can't stand it, and does the same thing again. I feel as if I would pass out being in the toilets. After all, I pee, and when I have to again, I always use that exact same toilet. I will still be a mess, going in there the first couple of times, but I have to "trust" every single toilet.

    Is there a treatment or some kind of help for this? I know I'm bad at english, and sorry for that, but I hope You understand, really. I can't live with this "condition" anymore.

  10. #10

    Re: Fear of Toilets

    I can't believe I'm not the only one petrified of victorian style toilets with very high cisterns and chains to flush! Is there an actual name for it? I have been petrified of them since the age of 6 and am now 34. I have no idea why, they were in my primary school and I don't recall any incident that would have caused it. Everyone I tell thinks it's hilarious, and to a point I do to, it's totally irrational. But every time I come across one (thankfully very rare) I get a hot numb/ prickly sensation throughout my body and feel like I can't move, even looking at a photo of one sends me into a panic. I don't know what I expect to happen when I'm around one either. I have had 100's of dreams about them over the years too, but nothing to reveal the actual cause of the phobia. I've no idea what I can do to get rid of this phobia, I've often thought of hypnosis but not tried it. Not sure it would actually help. And the thought of trying to face it bit by bit doesn't appeal either. If I'm out anywhere and unsure of what style of toilet is out there, I always send a trusted person in to do a check lol

    Oh and I hate self flushing toilets too! Just read the other posts again, the thought of a self flushing victorian toilet would be enough to send me into a blind panic! I came across a self flushing 'normal' loo on a ferry once, didn't even know they existed until then, you never heard anyone scream so loud! I got some looks when I got back on the deck lol
    Last edited by Phobia; 20-06-11 at 15:54.

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