By: Mark Cunning
"It’s called paruresis, folks. Also known as pee shy, shy bladder, bashful bladder, stage fright, and choking at the bowl. Sufferers generally are unable to urinate in the presence of others. According to paruesis.org, an estimated seven percent of Americans, or twenty-one million people, experience some variation of the social anxiety disorder. "
The Paruretic, is a perzine about this condition. This issue's theme is "dating"
"fear, phobia, embarrassment, courage.
The Paruretic is a series all about a man who suffers from paruresis, a phobia that prevents him from urinating while other people are around. This causes problems at school, at work, and at any public event.
And it causes problems when dating.
Part of dating, part of relationships, part of love, is the process of familiarity. Getting to know someone so well that little by little there are no more secrets. But Mark has a big secret, and it takes everything he can to keep this secret with one girlfriend after another. He wants to tell him, but is too embarrassed. While hanging out with his love interest, or her family, he finds excuses to go outside, then pees there. Or waits until his lover is asleep, just so he can get up and pee in the middle of the night.
Something that is not so much as an after-thought for 95% of us is the ONLY thing Mark can think about most of the time. When should he pee? And where, and how?
This issue is the dating issue, the one we've all been waiting for."
And it causes problems when dating.
Part of dating, part of relationships, part of love, is the process of familiarity. Getting to know someone so well that little by little there are no more secrets. But Mark has a big secret, and it takes everything he can to keep this secret with one girlfriend after another. He wants to tell him, but is too embarrassed. While hanging out with his love interest, or her family, he finds excuses to go outside, then pees there. Or waits until his lover is asleep, just so he can get up and pee in the middle of the night.
Something that is not so much as an after-thought for 95% of us is the ONLY thing Mark can think about most of the time. When should he pee? And where, and how?
This issue is the dating issue, the one we've all been waiting for."
-Review by Billy McCall
Quarter-size, color cover, 40 pages long.
