I have to ask - and then what? clearly she should be the embarrassed one, not you...

she didn't say she was embarrassed. i have a similar anxiety and i can't do any of my business and most other tasks unless I'm totally alone. it's not about embarrassment, it's about being afraid in general. if you have anxiety, it's like anything you do or another person does could drastically alter or destroy a moment or the entire relationship between you and that person, no matter if you actually know them or not. anything could go wrong and anything could happen as a result of that and it would be all our fault. we know how unreasonable and silly it may sound to you, but have you ever gone out in public and felt immediately afraid? that's how it is every single day. I'm not afraid that I'm going to embarrass myself, I'm afraid that someone else is going to find a reason to hate me or put me down or immediately start judging me to my face or hit me or shank me or cause some kind of drama/problem with me. even just sitting next to someone in a bathroom stall is enough to make you think "oh god......" and start thinking about every possible way that the situation could go wrong. it sucks. but it's just how our brains work. it's not embarrassing, it's terrifying.

Some people do not understand how anxiety works. It took a long time for my husband to stop trying to push me to do things way outside of my comfort zone like talking to strangers outside of work. I would be in dire need of a bathroom in public but would be stuck in there forever unable to go because of a lady in the next stall talking on her phone. OP, you are so very not alone.

It's okay OP. I have really bad social anxiety, even in my own home where I've lived with my boyfriend for over a year if the bathroom door isn't shut I can't go. Not like a closed door makes a difference in a tiny studio apartment but it's enough to make me comfortable. So in public I either look for a single-person bathroom or just wait until I get home , which isn't always an ideal option. :( Sorry for rambling but the point is I understand at least a little bit. ^,^ anxiety is an awful crippling fear.

Support from a Generalised Anxiety/Social Anxiety/Panic disorder person. Well I have some combination, depending which of my doctors write it down. I know the anxiety can be hard, even if it's only in some situations I suggest you see if you can get some CBT or other counselling, it likely occupies your thoughts more than you notice. Also, while it obviously tends to feel embarrassing, why logically SHOULD someone feel embarrassed for being ill in some way, even if it's diarrhoea? It's not logical.

I have anxiety as well and I hate feeling like going into a bathroom is unnatural. It's weird isn't it? We all know everyone as a human uses the restroom, yet many of us are embarrassed by it. I've been late for class before just because I didn't want to leave my stall before anyone else.

First of all, it is extremely comforting to read all of these comments as a person who suffers from a myriad of anxiety issues. It is not easy to overcome or to function normally. For those of you who don't get it, it's not as simple as just not being afraid it's an uncontrollable feeling like being nauseous or having a headache ( although much more limiting). There are uncontrollable synapses occurring in the brain that make it difficult to feel or think differently. Yes people with anxiety can still function in normal society, but it takes a lot of work and it never really goes away, at least not in my experience. I have an irrational fear of cash registers or doing anything that deals with money. I now actual work at a place where I have to be a cashier sometimes and even though I can do it I have to be twice a diligent because I am twice as likely to make mistakes because I am literally freaking out the whole time. Yes I suck it up and do my job, but the fear is still there like a painful itch. It's not rational and it can't be fixed by rationalizing. Just because the OP wasn't in the embarrassing situation in the traditional sense she was in a completely different kind of Hell. So before you judge please try to understand first.

Damn I never would have thought I had it easy.. I just have pretty bad social and performance anxiety.. Anyhoo it's pretty difficult for someone who doesn't experience it to understand what it's like to have an anxiety disorder.

I'm like that too. As soon as someone enters the bathroom, I just can NOT leave until they do. With my luck, I'm sometimes stuck in there for like 15 minutes longer than I need to be. -.-

Tbh that's ******* retarded

I thought that this toilette thing was common. I have no problem with #1 but I really can't go #2 if I am not alone in the toilette. And I too wait for the other person to leave first.