Articles > Paruresis or shy bladder syndrome and urine drug testing

Paruresis, also known as pee shyness, shy kidney, bashful bladder, stage fright, or shy bladder syndrome is a type of social anxiety disorder, that can affect both men and women, in which the sufferer is unable to urinate in the presence of others.

There can be serious difficulties with workplace drug testing where observed urine samples are insisted upon, if the testing regime does not recognise and cater for the condition. In the UK, employees have a general right not to be unfairly dismissed, and so have an arguable defence if this arises, but this is not the case everywhere.

There is growing evidence to suggest that some drugs testing authorities find paruresis a nuisance, and some implement "shy bladder procedures" which pay no more than lip service to the condition, and where there is no evidence that they have conducted any real research into the matter.

The codes and procedures for drugs testing in sport are set by the World Anti-Doping Agency ("WADA"). Enquiries to WADA reveal that their doping codes do not cater for the condition at all, and they say they have never had any reports of problems with it. It is thought to be remarkable that such a widespread common condition is not experienced by any athletes, and it is believed by some that this is because sufferers avoid activities where they know they will be required to submit to such testing without the right to choose an alternative testing method. If that is correct, then there might well be a vicious circle which would be of the nature of potential world class athletes who are sufferers being deterred by the testing regime, whilst the testing regime does not cater for the condition because it has not encountered sufferers.

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