Phobias

[ehhbggmny]

I'm writing this here because I'm concerned for my girlfriend. I'm putting this in the phobias section because I think it fits best.

In a nutshell, she can't go for a bowel movement in a bathroom she is not comfortable in. She can go when she is at home, at my place, at her parents' place, when we're in a hotel together. That's never an issue. But when it's somewhere where someone else may want to use it, she simply can't.

Now she's just started an exchange semester in a foreign country, and hasn't gone in 2 days, and is starting to feel ill. She told me she once went a 2-week holiday without until she got home.

She's talking of giving up the exchange semester and quitting, which I feel would be a terrible shame, and a waste. I've tried giving her advice, saying that at some point if she keeps trying, it will work, I'm sure she can do it. She should wait until the person she shares the bathroom with leaves the house etc., but she says she simply can't. She tries, sits down for easily half an hour, but it just won't come, though she knows it's there and ready.

She seems to have such an ingraned fear of someone coming and knocking on the door, that her mind just stops her body from functioning correctly. Now I'm far away and can't help her.

The other thing is, she is so embarassed by it, she can't speak with anyone about it. Her sister and I are like the only people in the world who know about this problem.

Anyone out there had something similar and gotten over it, or even heard of something like it? Any advice would be great.