Didn't sound like she was anxious if she felt okay to talk and introduce herself mid-stream

No. I was..

Lol just totally get over that mental illness you have lolololol

Yeah, you can't simply "just get over it". That's not how it works.

You probably hear this all the time, and I have to stress that this is JUST MY OPINION, and I have no experience whatsoever in this field. But I think the only approach to overcome it is to 'just do it'. The first time will obviously be extremely difficult, but once you overcome that, I think it'll become much easier.. for the first time, try to not think about why, and how, and what the outcome would be etc etc... just forget about everything and think only the most basic thoughts. I repeat - I'm not a professional and I don't have any opinion on anxiety... so take my advice with a grain of salt.

I might seem stupid or insensitive, but I could you maybe help me understand what are you afraid of at that moment? Do you feel shame or real fear or what? I would really appreciate an answer from someone who goes through this so I can understand others and find a way to react in a right way. And I hope you soon overcome this feeling of anxiety or whatever it is. Your bladder and kidneys will thank you :)

It's embarrassment, for me. I'm a very private person, I don't like people to hear me using the restroom because I care too much about what people think. I don't want somebody, for some reason, to think I'm gross. I don't brush my teeth in front of people. I don't even like it when people watch me while I'm eating.

Sweety, I completely understand. I've gotten to where I don't even want to go to school because of my anxiety, and I've finally been out on medicine for it. I think what you need to do is to talk to your school counsellor about this, and see what you can do from there.

Piggy backing on 77. Yes, you need to talk to your counselor or a licensed therapist. Medication or even a service dog might help you overcome you fears.

Damn. That must be so annoying. Building your self-confidence is, I guess, really your only option. But sadly, it's much easier said than done. A weird idea: maybe, just maybe it would help if you listened to other people pee? It sounds so creepy, I'm afraid to post this. But anyway. Maybe it would help if you observed how you feel if you hear someone doing something like peeing. If your reaction towards other people (being gross :P) is completely neutral, maybe you can slowly start believing that what other people think about you peeing in there, is the same as you think about them. That might help? With time? Sorry if I'm just writing generic bullsh*it that you've heard 5973763-times before. I hope you find a way to make peeing more pleasant (oh god, I must stop). Sorry.

I had some pretty bad anxiety too when I was in school, although it wasn't over doing specific things. It sucks feeling that way and you shouldn't have to be worrying about going to the bathroom, its too stressful and inconvenient. If you talk to a therapist they could probably help you out. Since your anxiety seems to be mostly over doing certain things (like eating, going to the bathroom) then I don't think anxiety meds would be of much help. Those are mostly for general anxiety, which is what I had. I think therapy could help you a lot. A lot of people commented that you should 'just do it', although I think there are steps you can take before 'just doing it' that would make it a lot easier on you. IF you wanna try to just do it, then that's very brave of you, but a lot of people in your kind of situation get help, and then they're able to do whatever it was that was giving them anxiety.

I'll admit I hate it too, but the thing that gets me through it is "everybody poops/pees and this is what bathrooms are meant for. Nobody actually cares about the bathroom sounds and if they do they shouldn't be in a public restroom"

I work in the psych field and am usually not a big proponent of medication. There are usually just too many side effects to make it worth it. But some people legitimately need it. If your anxiety is bad enough that it is significantly impairing your daily living activities, you should think about talking to a counselor. Maybe medication isn't the best option for you. There are a number of treatment options you can try before meds, but you don't have to let your anxiety rule your life. Whatever you decide, good luck OP!!

I don't know if this is so, but it sounds like you might have social anxiety. A fear of being negatively judged. I have it, and for me I'm terrified of being seen as annoying to the point I go out of my way to avoid people sometimes so they won't think I'm annoying.

I feel the same way when I go. It's always awkward to be making weird sounds when there are others around at all IMO

all I can say is people don't give a ****. They know you walked in to take a shit, you know they walked in to take a shit. You don't have any privacy because we're all aware of what you're doing just as you're aware of them so let it out

Don't feel too bad about it. I have a bladder of steel now because I usually can't bring myself to use a public restroom. Especially not at school.

OP i have the a similar problem i can't pee if my cat is outside the bathroom door a tip for if you need to go at school try using the bathroom in the nurse's office or the administration buildings the bathroom in the nurses office is normally a privet single bathroom & the ones in the admin building don't usually have people in them also sometimes the library has bathrooms in it

Please don't listen to the people who are advising you to "just do it", I know they are trying to help but what they're saying isn't right. (By the way I'm not trying to offend anyone). If you just do it your anxiety will only get worse. You have to step A LITTLE out of your comfort zone. As dumb as it may sound start with smiling at a stranger. What you seem to have is undiagnosed social anxiety; the only way to control this is by doing little things out of the norm for you, that will actually benefit you in the future. Yes, there is medication available but often times it doesn't work. For example, I'm treating a patient with depression and bipolar and even though she is on medication they don't always help her and she often gets episodes. But then again I do work in a mental hospital so they push us to find the right medication for every individual, even if I don't always believe that medication will work. Anyhow, if you want to ask me any questions about it go ahead and email me.

It is a totally natural thing to have to use the restroom, brushing your teeth, etc. You hear others do it all the time, and no one makes fun of them, right? So, you need to keep telling yourself that no one else gets made fun of doing their business, so why would they do that to you? I am the type of person who can't do a "number 2" in public, or even in my house when someone is near the bathroom. I have to turn the bathroom fan on or turn the faucet on because I get embarrassed as well. It's normal to be embarrassed, but some way, you will be able to over come it if you tell yourself that everything will be fine and face your fears. Good luck! Edit: Maybe trying to turn on the automatic hand dryers before you go will help you? You should see if that works.

OP I had the same problems when I was in school but I got over it. It takes time to get past the walls that keep you from doing stuff. I soon came to realize that I don't care if people hear me piss like a Russian race horse or watch me pig out on what I like to eat, it's none of their damn business and if they don't like it they can **** off. Hope you can get past these boundaries like I have, I still have much to overcome but in the end it's all worth it. :)

I have faith that one day you'll overcome your fears :) It may take a while, like allot of fears do, but never give up!

My mom tells me that I'm not the only one worried about going to the bathroom when in the stalls and that me going (oh god xD) might make the other people who are anxious also go so they aren't alone. (I don't know if it's true, I still get shy and don't go unless it's an emergency)

I have a similar thing where I can not sleep around anyone/ in the same room

I kno how you feel. I'm the same way.

Hey OP I feel you you on this. When im in the bathroom it's my private time and I hate people walking in. A cool trick that I used to use at my high school was turn the sink on not enough to over flow but enough to provide distraction noise. Dure its wasteful but it helped me out the few times I had to use the restroom in public

Hi everyone how's you day

Flushing a toilet creates a tiny mist (which can and often will contain fecal matter) NEVER flush while sitting down. Ew. That's why they say your toothbrush is better sitting near the kitchen sink than the bathroom one. Closing the lid every time you flush helps with the smell in the room as well as the "mist". The more you know!

74- Didn't you watch Mythbusters on that? You'll get poo on your toothbrush no matter where it is in the house. 64- Poo-pourri, it's crazy but it works.

@74 sometimes you have to flush periodically so you don't overflow the toilet when you've had a lot of poop and corresponding paper.