If you are starting to experience other health issues due to your "bashful bladder" or paruresis, such as constipation and abdominal pain, you may want to talk to a professional therapist about your disorder. Look for a therapist who is aware of paruresis and has worked with individuals suffering from paruresis before. Your family doctor may be able to give your a recommendation for a therapist who treats individuals with paruresis. You will likely have to attend weekly one on one therapy sessions or group therapy sessions, where you may talk about your anxiety and fears associated with using public washrooms. You may also learn techniques to cope with your disorder. Remember that holding in your urine for too long can cause medical problems like urinary tract infections. It is a good idea to get help before serious problems arise. Graduated exposure therapy is a step-by-step program that has participants try to pee more and more in difficult, public places. Around eight out of 10 people with paruresis are successfully treated with graduated exposure therapy. You can get a referral for a behavioral specialist who does graduated exposure therapy through a psychologist and a therapist. To do graduated exposure therapy, you will make a list ranking peeing locations that are the easiest for you to use to the most difficult for you to use. For example, your bathroom at home may be easiest and a public washroom at work may be more difficult. You will then start by trying to use the washroom in the easiest locations and work your way to the more difficult locations. You should do graduated exposure therapy three to four times a week for the best results and drink lots of fluids before each session. Participants usually notice results after 12 weeks. As part of the process of graduated exposure therapy, you will need to enlist a "pee partner", who will support you and stand close to you so you feel comfortable peeing or going to the bathroom. This could be a close friend or a family member. Your "pee partner" will stand close to you as you pee for a few seconds and then stop. He may then move a little closer as you go to the toilet again, pee for a few seconds and then stop. The idea is to keep practicing peeing with your pee partner as he gets closer and closer to the toilet. You may then gradually start to make noise while peeing to try to get more comfortable using the bathroom, such as splashes. Once you are fine peeing at home, you and your pee partner may move to a quiet public restroom. Your "pee partner" may stand outside the toilet door or behind you at the urinal while you pee. You will work with your "pee partner" to go down your list of locations until you can successfully go to the bathroom in a loud and crowded washroom. The IPA is a non-profit organization that helps to educate the public about paruresis and shares information about effective treatments for paruresis. The IPA holds weekend workshops for individuals struggling with paruresis. You can also get a referral to a cognitive-behavioral therapist who can assist you with treating your paruresis. You can access the sign up form for IPA on their website.

Summary: Try psychotherapy. Talk to your doctor about graduated exposure therapy. Work with a close friend or family member during graduated exposure therapy. Join the International Paruresis Association.

Use your extra time to treat yourself to a luxurious DIY bubble bath. If you don't have bubble bath soap or crystals, just make it a regular bath, setting up candles and snacks to make it feel special. What better time to curl up with some tea, coffee or hot chocolate than a rainy day? If you're with friends or kids, you could even host a "tea party." Wear fancy clothes, set out some nice china and appetizers and use your best manners. Pinkies up, everyone! Put on some relaxing songs, light a few candles and use your rainy day as a chance to unwind. Maybe your life has been so hectic lately that you've been missing out on sleep, or you just need a quick power nap to get back up to speed. The sound of rain on the roof and in the streets can be very soothing. Let it lull you right to sleep.

Summary: Have a bubble bath. Mix up some hot drinks. Listen to music, the radio or a podcast. Take a nap.

The following ingredients simply go together in your Kitchen-Aid or another stand mixer. Then, using the paddle attachment, mix it all up. Once the ingredients are mixed, put on the dough hook and let it knead for 3-4 minutes before rising, shaping, and cooking like normal: 1 3/4 cups lukewarm milk 3 tablespoons butter 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 1 large egg, lightly beaten 4 1/2 cups (19 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour 2 teaspoons instant yeast Add this to the warm milk mixture after it has cooled, which prevents the egg from cooking. Beat it into the recipe like normal, continuing from there. Eggs have fat and protein that leads to a richer, slightly denser muffin. All of these ingredients are fats used to bind the ingredients, and all of them can be used to subtly flavor and change your muffins. Note, however, that olive oil is the only liquid fat here, which means it should be split half and half with butter instead of being used completely on its own. Looking for a thinner English crumpet? The recipe is almost the exact same, except that crumpets require a thinner, almost pancake-like dough. The extra milk will cover this for you, but you'll need to use Muffin rings when cooking -- the thinner dough won't hold its shape like the English muffin dough does. You'll also need to replace the butter on the pan, but olive or canola oil will cover this easily. These muffins have all the flavor of a normal English muffin, especially if you use a milk substitute instead of just water.
Summary: Mix everything in a stand mixer with this simple "one-pot" recipe. Add an egg to the recipe get a slightly richer English muffin. Use coconut oil, olive oil, or butter instead of shortening. Turn your English Muffin into a simple crumpet with an extra 3/4 cup milk. Replace the milk with water, almond milk, or soy milk for a vegan muffin.