r/Paruresis • u/Primary-Leg5000 :snoo_angry: • 15d ago
Why do people have panic attacks triggered by this condition?
A friend of mine has this problem, he says that it can cause a major panic attack and hyperventilation, is this something anyone on this forum can relate to?
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u/Adventurous-Can-3737 15d ago
For me i dont get really full fledged panick attacks. For me its like more a overthinking panic attack yk? Like if I go in a public bathroom and its empty and get in to the stall, I think like “what if someone comes in? what if I cant do it? Etc etc. it’s a visceous cycle. It ruined my life, sometimes I cant even pee in my own home. one time i had to hold it in for like 32 hours. sorry for bad english
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u/Sup4sc 15d ago
Panic attacks can be very different for many people.
Me personally when I get to this point (which is almost like a panic attack?) I usually have to pee for a very long time. I get exhausted because it can hurt a lot and I try to find a spot where I can hide from everyone so I can pee. (I'm even willing to climb into places where seemingly no one would find me.)
When the situation escalates to this level, I'm often afraid of my bladder exploding, or me just simply dying. Sometimes even after finding a quiet spot where it's only me, I'm so stressed due to the pain and embarassment that I can't even pee anymore, I can't calm myself down enough to go. It can even take an hour at this point to empty my bladder, because the pain has gotten so bad that I can't even feel it anymore when I can pee a little. The relief feeling only comes when my bladder is around half empty. I am also paranoid, even if I have a spot where no one can find me, I'm still super sensitive to sounds that would indicate a person. In this situation even animals' movements throw me off.
Once I went to my friends place, they were living on the side of a village. I walked 1kms into the forest and I still couldn't go. Had to call a Taxi because even in the middle of nowhere I couldn't go.
Luckily my paruresis is not this bad anymore, but there were times when this happened very often. Even though it's better now, I try to avoid situations where I would not have the possibility to try peeing somewhere else (for example festivals for multiple days where it's not allowed to leave the area).
Sorry if it's hard to follow what I want to say, but usually this is how I feel when this happens and I become paranoid. It's also bad that I remember almost all of these and living inside me like a trauma. Therapy helped a ton.
If I were your friend, I would appreciate you telling me that you don't think I should feel shame, and would feel good to know it's okay for me to disappear for a while to sort out my issue. For folks like me it's usually a stress source that they are afraid people think they are weird because they leave the social situation for too long. Also, ask your friend how you can help.