Tony is sixty years old and wears wire-rim glasses. He lives outside Boston, and agreed to talk with me about his shy bladder. But he doesn't want to use his last name because he hasn't told all his friends and family yet what he has been living with.

Tony: "By the time I was in high school I was not able to use the urinal if I knew there were other people in there who could see me or hear me."

For forty five years, Tony couldn't get himself to go in public restrooms. Then he came to a workshop organized by the International Paruresis Association. And that weekend, standing in a crowded mall bathroom, after forty five years, the flood gates finally opened.

Tony: "It felt better than the first time I was successful staying upright on a two wheeled bike. I hadn't been that excited since I was six years old."

Tony's story is not unique. Marty Grifone is from Sussex, New Jerse...
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Suggested host intro:

You may know someone who has trouble using public restrooms. Someone who needs to go but can't when there are strangers listening nearby. There's a word for it: shy bladder. Or if you want to get scientific, Paruresis ["PAHR-you-REE-siss."] It happens to everyone at some time, but for some people, it happens every time. Hammad Ahmed recently visited a workshop and support group, to see how people with shy bladder overcome their problem.