Shy Bladder Syndrome and Positive Affirmations - Do They Really Work?

By Jay Ryles

It is often reported that shy bladder syndrome can be positively affected by the use of positive affirmations. The following article discusses if this is so.

A Social Phobia

Shy bladder syndrome (SBS) or paruresis is classed as a social phobia in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). A phobia is far more than just an irrational fear. Many of us perhaps have irrational fears about 'spiders out to get us' etc, however, a fear 'morphs' into a phobia when it begins to seriously affect the individual's life.

Shy bladder syndrome being a social phobia seriously affects the sufferer's daily life. Someone with SBS will often avoid socializing, meeting friends, and find themselves even choosing careers which cater to their needs for bathroom privacy. It is a silent and extremely embarrassing syndrome that has devastating effects.

Treatment

Despite there still being a severe lack of understanding surrounding the factors which precipitate SBS, most of the literature indicates that cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) works best to ameliorate symptoms and ease the condition.

CBT uses various techniques all aimed at one primary objective: to alter the person's unhelpful or destructive thinking patterns. Thoughts primarily influence feelings. Improving thoughts can alleviate feelings of embarrassment and shame surrounding SBS.

Positive Affirmations

One of the techniques used in CBT is that of positive affirmations. These are mini statements designed to be incorporated into daily life by setting goals of repeating them several times a day. This is often done using affirmation cards or by listening to them on an audio track.

Positive affirmations are specifically tailored the individual's circumstances and the statements do what they say: 'positive affirm'

• Eg. "You are a positive, happy person",
• " You choose to be happy and smile at everyone you meet",
• "You are calm and relaxed",
• "You choose to use a urinal and you are relaxed when doing so"

Someone with SBS feels extremely anxious when attempting to urinate when others are present. This anxiety inhibits their bladders to relax sufficiently to allow them to urinate. It is purely a psychological problem. The subconscious has made the connection between using public restroom or urinating in the presence of other and 'danger' (often due to previous "triggering" events).

Although, positive affirmations on their own will not cure SBS or any problem as many people believe or try to tell us; they are a powerful adjunct to therapy when used consistently. This is because SBS is maintained often through negative self-talk due to feelings of inadequacy and feeling "strange" or "weird" for not being able to perform one of our most basic human needs- the elimination of body waste. Therefore, in conjunction with systematic desensitization (the mainstay of treatment), positive affirmations can be a powerful tool in a paruretic's arsenal in their battle toovercome shy bladder syndrome.

Shy bladder syndrome is an embarrassing and socially crippling phobia for those that sufferer from it. If you have shy bladder syndrome or simple found this article of interest and would like to know more about this social phobia then please visit http://www.overcomingshybladder.comto find out more information.

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