According to BBC News, at least four million people (and possibly many more) suffer from the debilitating disease of Toilet Phobia. Needless to say, this is currently the ‘most read’ story on their site. Now, several times a day, at least, I find myself infuriated by the moronic mangling and regurgitating of press releases that seems to pass for journalism these days. This is no doubt evidence of some kind of disorder of my own, and this particular story isn’t an extreme example, but nonetheless I am moved to write about it because, if nothing else, it’s more interesting than doing the washing up.
I’m not suggesting that there aren’t people for whom this is a serious problem, but “Millions ‘hit by toilet phobia’” is just ridiculous.
What defines Toilet Phobia exactly? Well, from the article, it can “simply be manifest as a mild distaste for public loos.” Erm, hello? Is there anybody, other than George Michael and friends, who doesn’t have at least a mild distaste for them? I don’t like public toilets one little bit. If there’s something wrong with this, then somebody please let me know and I’ll go and receive the necessary therapy and counselling. Otherwise, I’ll happily persist in my belief that public toilets are unpleasant places, for a number of reasons.
The sensational story has a more down-to-earth sister story, which tells of the plight of a chap who struggles with “obsessive compulsive disorder and constantly worries about dirt, germs and contamination issues.” Despite the title of the story, “Toilet phobia makes life hard”, he evidently doesn’t have Toilet Phobia. He has far higher standards of hygiene than the rest of us, to the point where it impacts his life in a mostly negative way. I say mostly because I bet he doesn’t suffer from colds and other infectious diseases, or food poisoning, to the same extent as everybody else.
Anyway, needless to say, behind all this there is a book and DVD waiting to be purchased.
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Hi. I’ve just strolled across your blog by accident. I’m one of the millions of people who suffer from this condition. It is not being bigged up, there are so many people suffering on a daily basis and it’s much more than just not liking the smell of public loos. It has been known to drive people to suicide. The DVD and booklet are not for sale, it is not for making money…they are FREE to help people like me to realise we’re not alone. I wish people would take it more seriously and be a bit more open minded.
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As I said, I’m not suggesting it isn’t a problem for some, or one not to be taken seriously, but “at least 4 million in Britain,” really?
£1.50 for the factsheet, £14.95 for the DVD (no longer available?), by the way. If you have a source for the free versions please post a link to help any other sufferers who might randomly stop by. Thanks.
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Hi,
I just wrote a really long reply and lost it, so i’ve had to try again. my main points were (a) sorry if my message yesterday sounded stroppy, but i was in a hurry mainly, but do also admit i get defenseless if i think people are not taking it seriously. I realise now that this was not what you were trying to put across. Sorry!
http://www.phobics-society.org.uk go to this website and click on the information page, and then the toilet phobia link – they will send free copies of the DVD and booklet to any UK addresses.
(b) the media do take the wrong angle on this to be honest. Toilet phobia isn’t just a fear of germs, but this seems to be the main thing that the media focus on, making it understandable that people will think it’s a trivial issue because nobody likes the smell and grime of public loos. But toilet phobia can also be the intense fear of urinating or soiling yourself in public, or even a physical inability (due to a mental block) to perform these actions in a public toilet etc. This is when it seriously starts to affect your life. In my case, for example, I fear being caught short and soiling myself in public. I suffer with Irritable Bowel Syndrome and therefore this isn’t really an unrealistic fear. As a result, I cannot go anywhere (such as on the london eye, or on a long canoeing trip etc) where I cannot quickly and easily get to the toilet. I have panic attacks on public transport because i worry that I’ll be hit with a sudden bout of diarrhoea while down in the underground etc. I cannot eat out in restaurants or at friends houses in case i get a bad stomach (and with IBS that normally happens anyway). I cannot go clubbing because the queues for toilets would totally do me in! And so your social life becomes non existent, and even holding down a job becomes a problem when you can’t do what’s expected of you.
One of my closest friends now is someone i met through the phobics society, who suffers with the same fears. She became agoraphobic as a result of worrying that she’d go out and not make it to a toilet in time, and when her life really went downhill she attempted suicide. This is why I get so upset when we try to raise awareness and it gets dismissed or mocked. I put myself through the trauma to travel into london one night (which for me is really hard) when a well known national radio station asked to interview me about toilet phobia. The next day i was horrified when, once again, all they talked about was dirty public toilets, and interviewed people on the streets who totally mocked the whole thing and made the taboo even worse. They didn’t even use my interview.
This is why so many people are suffering in silence. Because it is not taken seriously, or because they think people won’t understand. I’m not sure where this 4 million figure came from, but i don’t really find it that hard to believe. Every day i meet more and more people, by chance as well as through support groups, who either suffer with some sort of toilet-related-anxiety, or they know someone else who does. So I don’t actually think it’s too unrealistic…I just think people are too afraid to be open about it. For a start, you’d be surprised how the number of young people in school who are unable to “use” school toilets is increasing. More and more kids are coming home with stomach aches and so on because they feel unable to use the school toilets, for fear of being ridiculed or bullied for answering the call of nature. It’s crazy, but this starts to impact them…they start to avoid eating and drinking so that they’re less likely to need to go, and then the problem starts to escalate…
So. Rant over. Thanks for letting me air my view, and i’m sorry again for sounding sharp yesterday. It’s good at least to know that people took notice of the media coverage, I just wish the media would portray things the way we want them to!!!!
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Well, I am mostly ignorant about all this, but it doesn’t sound to me like you have a phobia as I understand the meaning of the word, more a perfectly rational fear under the circumstances. I think we’re basically agreeing though, since my argument was with the sensationalist yet trivialising style of the BBC article, but unfortunately that’s par for the course as you’ve found.
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to inject a bit of seriousness and educational content into my world of random nonsense.
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A slightly different take on this subject. I have IBS, and you could almost say I have a phobia (used in the loosest sense) of not going to the toilet, or more accurately, not being able to find a toilet!
I am pretty sure I know where every toilet is in all the surrounding towns, and I become very anxious if I have to go somewhere where I do not know where or even if there is a toilet.
Also through experience, I always carry some tissue paper, and also some antibacterial wipes, as with my IBS, if I need to go, not using the toilet because it is dirty is not an option!
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Hi,
im sam and im 14.i suffer from this condition as well, and i dont know anyone, that suffers the exact same. I suffer from worring that the toilet will block, i cant stand it and i dont feel safe with my own toilet at home, for years i have not tolled my mum how i really feel. Recently i went on holiday to florida and had a very bad experience out there, where i tryed not to go for about 2 weeks, i did but not properly and i cant not over come my fear. I have also recently started getting depression and have fallen out with many people because i dont no how to cope with depression, and i find it hard to talk about anything that involes the situation of florida.
If you do read my comment please reply i would love to hear from you about what you think and some of your problems
love
sam x -
Hi although I do think it’s exagerated one thin we have to understand is there are many toilet related phobias, fear of using public loos or usin the loo when other people Are there but also a fear of. Not been able to get to a toilet in time. I have a fear of wetting myself and it controls my life. I can’t do a lot of things. Car journeys are the worst I can’t be in a car for very long before needing to go. Can’t even last half an hour. There are quite a few out there like me and we constantly worry and sometimes even have panic attacks. I tried to get helpabout 4 month or more ago and I’m still waiting… Awareness needs to be made and these prblems need to be taken seriouly because it is destroting lives and no one understands when you try to explain. I hope that some awareness is made so we can finally get some much needed help
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Well, I have had a chronic fear of looking at blocked up or overflowing toilets since childhood. The very site of a blocked loo makes me shivver and go very goosey. I turn away and get the hell away from the loo as quickly as possible. My wife has to deal with any kind of blockage … I just can’t look at the toilet pan full of water !
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I need to share my feelings re toilet related bodily functions.
For years now I have suffered a depression type feeling based around the thought of humans carrying out toliet functions. I have kept this to myself and never managed to tell anyone as I feel like a total wierdo.
I have bad days where I think the excretion function in humans and dogs and cats and basically species of everyday life are utterly disgusting for carrying out this function (not quite so bad with wee but still struggle a bit)
It makes me feel as though life is a badly designed thing where the body acts in such a manner.
It can also affect my sex-drive as I think how filthy the stuff is that comes out the body just when i’m considering putting something into another persons body!!
Can anyone say they have any similar feelings like this?
Would be really glad to see any response
regardsCraig
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This is a very interesting article i never knew so many people suffer with this type of phobia. Some of the comments by people with this particular condition it must be really horrible to suffer in that way, and it isn’t any laughing matter. I had a friend once who didn’t like using public toilets as she felt people in the next toilet could hear her urinating and poor lady used to hold herself until she got home which caused bladder problems and pain later in life. I do hope the people on this site who have this phobia can get some help with the condition good luck.
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I never knew anyone besides myself suffered this terrible life debilitating phobia!
I’m 26 and since the age of 17 I’ve been ‘caught short’ twice. I’m sure I’ve had many close misses as well. Admittedly my fear is not as bad as it used to be, but it still holds a wealth of control over my life. Like others, everything I do has to be planned around the location of toilets. Restaurants, clubs, long trips it’s always in the back of my mind. Instantly after a meal out somewhere I need to use the loo, despite it not being physically possible to have digested already! My girlfriend thinks i’m wacky in that sense, but she’s used to it now.Unlike others, if there’s tissue there, I’m not bothered about public toilets, which makes my plight a bit easier.
My social life isn’t dead, as I intracately plan what and when i eat over the day before I go out, clearing me bowels accordingly.
I’m not sure if this will ever get cured, but now knowing other people have this fear has really helped me out
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i am another sufferer, you have just a hand full of people commenting on your article here now, some just stumbled across it, doesnt it make you think that yeh it might just be a big problem???
I know the fear of not finding a toilet is destroying my life, and its getting worse, i cant go on holiday anymore because obviously im not going to know where the toilets are, and as for not being able to go because the toilets are dirty haha i went in a hole in the floor when i was on holiday last year, it was the dirtiest smelliest place, but i had to go, we went on a trip and as soon as we got in the bus the man said i hope you have all been to the toilet as we will not be able to go now for a while…… that was the end of it for me, i needed to go as soon as i heared the words come out of his mouth, probably if he hadnt had said it, i wouldnt have thought about it (for a short while anyway) ive been stuck in a public toilet while my partner has waited for over half hour outside for me because i get panic attacks and i try to squeeze every last drop out, i stand up off the toilet then sit back down again because i think i still got to go again!!!
It is a awfull awfull thing to have, my friends are not aware of this either, i am 29 years old and i should be going out and enjoying myself….. BUT I CANT, its impossible!!!! Im due to have a baby next month now and it terrifies me to think i wont be able to go out anywhere with my baby because i wont be able to use a loo as i have to much baggage or i simply wont be able to finf one!!! if only there was one simple tablet i could take!!!
Anyway think thats me done, i need a pee now lol good luck to all the sufferes out there like myself (im sure there are millions) xxx -
Human evolution has perverted its natural origins. Bears and birds, all go wherever, whenever necessary. Monkeys like to eat and throw it and smear it around. I think we’re training ourselves to a strict and regimented world at specific times of the day. When our bodies’ natural schedules of eat, sleep, work, relief changes, our bodies’ reject the notion of a overly controlled environment. Really, more and more states and countries are installing pay toilets? Forget that, take it back to nature where it belongs, trees and bushes. It’s all natural, it’s natural fertilizer at its finest. I have never suffered from this ever. Timing issues, knowing your own body, and at worst cast scenario, Depends. It may sound demoralizing, but perhaps a return to those whiteys might be what is needed to get one’s body back under control.
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Hi, im 14 and i have a phobia to toilets. I can’t use public toilets or metal toilets and i dont feel safe using toilets that i have never used before. I fear that they are going to block, or the water will start to come up from the toilet and overflow. I dont like any toilets, not even the one that is in my house. I can’t even go into a toilet cubicle if there is a toilet that had just been flushed in one of the cubicles near it. My worst nightmare would be that the water in the toilet would come up and overflow while i was in a toilet cubicle and this is similar to what happened at school recently. I was walking into the toilet cubicle when i saw the water rise and then it started to bubble. this started off a panic attack. Its hard to deal with because there was a lot of people around when i freaked out at the toilet, and its embarrassing because they probably now think im wierd.
When people find out about this, they think its funny, and say that theres nothing to be scared of of a toilet, but some people don’t seem to understand that some people have a phobia of toilets, and people should start to take us seriously. JUST SAYING. -
Hi, I suffer exactly the same problem as Tanya. My phobia ruined my social life, I spend weekends at home, never eat out, never go to theathre, cinema or clubs. Cannot travel anymore, cannot take a bus or any other public transport without toilet, cannot be in car with other person than my boyfriend.. I suffer this since last year and it is extremely difficult for me…I feel like I have no life, I would do anything to have my life back. Started to have slight depressions so I made appointment to see a doctor who will be able to prescribe antidepressants for me as I can’t put up with this anymore. I always carry in my bag spare trousers in case I soil myself, that help me to relax a bit.
good luck to everybody who is fighting with this! -
Rhi, reading your comment…I had exactly the same experience on bus as you did. As soon as I heard the driver to say that we will be on highway and he won’t be able to stop for loo break, I got panic attack so strong that I almost fainted.
Also I was thinking about having a baby, but I am way too scared. I feel extremely nervous when I walk my dogs already…I always wear long coat and carry spare pair of jeans on me..that might help you to relax a bit..
Anyway, I wish you all the best for you and your baby. -
OMG Sophie! I feel your pain. I absolutely abhor metal toilets. I fear a lot of toilets. I hate new toilets and fear them overflowing . I usually use the handicapped bathroom because there is more room. I am so afraid of what people will think of me.
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I, clearly like many others, suffer from this. I am 17 and I do not use a toilet until I think im about to pee my pants. To go to the toilet I have to convince myself that I will be okay even at home. I shake uncontrollably during and after using a toilet. The consequences of having this phobia are just like other phobias, it can ruin your social life and causes health problems. I’ve had UTI 2 times in the past few years caused by this phobia. I’ve been very lucky to be able to talk to work mates and family about it however am constantly being laughed at by peers at school. I think it needs to be spread where you can get help.
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I also suffer from this – according to anxiety uk, toilet phobia is an umbrella term so it covers a few different things. I’m not scared about hygiene or anything, I’m worried about a) being overheard, b) not being able to find a toilet, c) that people know why I’m going to the toilet. I know it’s a natural thing, but a phobia is an irrational fear, so I know it’s not logical. It’s been getting progressively worse and it can completely cripple your social life and just life in general. I have IBS and get it really bad in the mornings, so I don’t feel like I can ever stay with my boyfriend overnight because I need to be alone in the mornings to deal with it all. I feel like I can’t go out, I feel like my relationship is suffering and most of all it stops me being able to do ANYTHING spontaneous or different. It makes you depressed and you try and work out when you suddenly started becoming more aware of your toilet habits, but it’s so hard to work it out.
I think the numbers stated in the original article are probably close to the truth, but the degree of suffering varies…some people can cope with the effects of it, but for others it’s more serious. And it’s made even worse because some people think it’s to be laughed about. -
Erm, well I have a type of this phobia, I hate going to black toilets, y’ano ones with a black seat, most of them at my school are black aswell :/ which doesn’t help, in the changing rooms the only kirrir is with the toilets and I have I get my friends to close all the doors before I go in to used the mirror. I ran out of morrisons once because I needed the toilet went and found it was black and just pegged it :/ you see I can find people like this ^^^ well all you who have commented and it’s about toilets, but never black, ive only actually told a few of my friends about this, only a few take me seriously the rest laugh at me. Also, I think it’s getting worse, I’m starting to just lot use public toilets at all. I’m only 15! So yes, it is a bigger thing than you think, and it’s not overreacting, it’s like being scared of spiders when you live in the uk, it’s not going to harm you, but you’re still scared!
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