[Standup2me]

A long time ago there was a thread asking why we hate to take showers. I was trying to find it but had no luck.
Do you hate to shower?

[cincidak]

Yes. I'm afraid to because I might fall.

[unaluna]

I always feel like im taking up too much time, or running out of time. Running up against some deadline.

Good question.

[swimmingly]

I don't like showers for two reasons. One, which isn't verified yet, is that we think I have nerve damage which only affects my left outer leg and causes incredible shooting pains up my spine. And the other is a weird fear thing that I've built up. It takes me a long time to get ready mentally to be ready to shower. Maybe its related to the pain? It takes me a long time to get myself able to shower. I bet this makes no sense.

[bpcyclist]

Other than when I am scuba diving, I basically have a phobia now of water touching my body. Totally freaks me out. Weird. i am so weird.

[Travelinglady]

I don't like to shower either. I can't stand up long due to back problems, for one thing. I can sit in the tub and let the shower water come down though.

They don't bother me, unless severely depressed, then they seem monumental.

(Good to see you again, Standup2me! :-) And cincidak too -- been awhile since I've seen you both!)

[MobiusPsyche]

I don't like to take showers but I've no idea why. I took one every day when I was a teen, even though I was massively depressed then, too. But once I gave myself permission to skip showering, all bets were off and it's difficult to make myself do it the minimum twice a week now.

[bizi]

It is irrational, I hate to shower and only make my self do it when My hair needs to be washed. and then I have to hurry up because I am OCD about the order of bathing parts, and then I am fighting against time when the hot water will run out. I enjoy the hot water when I am in there. It is such a chore for me, glad when it is done!
1-2 times a week about every 5 days. That is 6 showers a month!
bizi

[Mountaindewed]

I used to take a shower every day until the pandemic. Now it’s about 5 times a week. I like taking them. I feel refreshed and empowered after one.

[Bipolarchic14]

I love showers. I take them twice a day. In the winter they warm me up in the summer they cool me down.

I wash my body more often than my hair, for good reasons. My hair would suffer from frequent washing. Curly haired women would generally understand.

I do shower less often than when I worked (went to the office). I think many people give themselves a day or two off from showering on weekends. Being home all week is like one long weekend, in a way.

I shower more often in the hotter months for obvious reasons, but still not every day.

Simply washing my body is not intimidating for me, but washing my hair and shaving legs is a bit of a chore. In the summer, I shave my legs a bit more only because I like to wear shorts, although slightly hairy legs doesn't keep me from wearing them. I'm a bit of a bohemian type woman married to a real Bohemian (Czech Republic). Though many (not all) Czech women do shave their legs nowadays (pressure from razor industry marketing and American influence - i.e. "shaming"), they didn't until more recently. When my husband was a young man, a woman who shaved her legs was suspected of being a prostitute. Honestly. Brazilian or Hollywood wax? Definitely prostitute! Or maybe crab lice? Nor did the average Czech take daily baths/showers. It is all a matter of expectations, in some cases, and the willingness to give in to them.

When depressed, it's hard enough to even get out of bed. Self care suffers. When I am manic, sometimes I am so into other things that showering is totally forgotten. I might think I am more than marvelous even without the shower. My hair could look like a bird's nest and I might think it looks great.

I hate being naked. One of the things we worked on in therapy was showering every other day.

[FluffyDinosaur]

Honestly I love to shower. Even more so when I'm not feeling good, it's one of the few things that can kind of calm me down a little. I absolutely hate feeling dirty and cannot stand it, no matter my mood.

[bizi]

yes I forgot about that aspect! sorry you suffer with that!
I really can't look in the mirror as I am 40 pounds over weight. who is that woman?

bizi

[*Beth*]

Originally Posted by BirdDancer

... When my husband was a young man, a woman who shaved her legs was suspected of being a prostitute. Honestly. Brazilian or Hollywood wax? Definitely prostitute! Or maybe crab lice? ...

Absolutely fabulous!

It's a drag for me to actually get into the shower and wash my hair, my body, shave my legs. Although I kind of like washing my hair. When I get out of the shower I always feel so refreshed, though.

At this time showers are difficult and rather unnerving (fear of falling) because my right leg is in a cast and I have to wear a long, plastic sheath with a latex water-tight top. When I get my cast off in 3 weeks showers will (hopefully) seem much easier. I do, however, have to shave only one leg

I've been showering every other day. In between I take a sponge bath using water and apple cider vinegar (the scent dissipates quickly).

Originally Posted by BethRags

Absolutely fabulous!

It's a drag for me to actually get into the shower and wash my hair, my body, shave my legs. Although I kind of like washing my hair. When I get out of the shower I always feel so refreshed, though.

At this time showers are difficult and rather unnerving (fear of falling) because my right leg is in a cast and I have to wear a long, plastic sheath with a latex water-tight top. When I get my cast off in 3 weeks showers will (hopefully) seem much easier. I do, however, have to shave only one leg

I've been showering every other day. In between I take a sponge bath using water and apple cider vinegar (the scent dissipates quickly).

I'm glad your cast is coming off soon, BethRags! Thank you, also, for finding the humor in what I wrote. It was true, and it was meant as humor, not insult. I guess I just wanted to say that we are more than fine as our natural selves.

[~Christina]

Well back in my 20's I was in a hell of a Depression and I struggled with showering ugh I once went almost 2 weeks, I was disgusting in myself..

I made myself a law 10 years ago when my life imploded and got my spiffy Bipolar badge

I will shower every single day no matter if I want to or not ( I know I have skipped a few days over the years if I was really sick with the flu or something) Often times my FIbro and PsA is so bad that the water hurts so damn much... But I still drag myself in the shower, I typically get wet quick , tilt the shower head the side , suds up and then rinse off. It takes at most 4-5 mins..

I will say I do not wash my hair in the shower, its not good to wash hair daily anyway, Mines almost to my waist. I wash it every 3-4 days or more if Im out getting sweaty or something.. But I wash that in the sink.

So by removing the hair washing in the shower it makes it possible for me to jump in and out daily. I also will add that I wash my hair, Wrap in a towel then twirl it on on top of my head with a clip and let it air dry, I am lucky I dont have to really " style my hair" so that helps too.

Maybe the dread of washing hair in the shower could be a bigger part of someones struggle too? Just a thought...

[*Beth*]

Originally Posted by BirdDancer

I'm glad your cast is coming off soon, BethRags! Thank you, also, for finding the humor in what I wrote. It was true, and it was meant as humor, not insult. I guess I just wanted to say that we are more than fine as our natural selves.

Oh, geez...when I was in high school in the '70's, in California, any cool hippie chick didn't shave her legs. It was so nice not to have to! Except it was hot in the summer


And thank you. I'm grateful that my achilles tendon will be healed, but ohhh...how I'm going to wait 3 more weeks for this cast to come off...I just don't know. Oh, well!

[*Beth*]

Originally Posted by ~Christina

....

So by removing the hair washing in the shower it makes it possible for me to jump in and out daily. I also will add that I wash my hair, Wrap in a towel then twirl it on on top of my head with a clip and let it air dry, I am lucky I dont have to really " style my hair" so that helps too.

Maybe the dread of washing hair in the shower could be a bigger part of someones struggle too? Just a thought...

Definitely. The days when I wash my hair in the sink, taking a quick shower is so much easier.

Originally Posted by Standup2me

A long time ago there was a thread asking why we hate to take showers. I was trying to find it but had no luck.
Do you hate to shower?

I do, especially if I'm not going anywhere

showers bring up a lot of things for me

firstly, their's the issue of my looks. I hate seeing myself naked, and I hate my body

secondly: their is the issue of my fibro pain / general body pain (showers make them 10 times worse)

third: like I say if I'm just going to shower for no reason (like no one's going to see me) who cares

and also the issue of my incontinence

I have good days and bad days, but the bad days are extremely bad (I could get in the shower, 5 minits later you'd not know I had one)

I only shower if their's a dam good reason too- and what is thought of as a dam good reason is usually going to see my therapist or some other person
and even then it's difficult to put myself through it.. but I have a thing: I don't want my therapist to smell me. I just don't. I want my therapist to think I always make an effert for her, and to be fair, I do a lot of the time

[Fuzzybear]

hurting body,,

[Moose72]

For me, its the drying off. It seems to take so long and doesnt seem to work well. i.e. im still wet after towelling off. I dunno if thats just the humidity from the shower or what but yeah- i dont like drying off. Plus taking a shower seems to take forever to wash my hair. For this reason only I wish I had short hair.

[Standup2me]

That's the reason why I have short hair. People tell me things like oh it's sassy just like you but what they don't know is that when I get depressed I wash my hair so infrequently that I can't get a comb through it. Forget about brushing....I have curly hair.

[*Beth*]

Several mentions of physical pain in this thread. I had forgotten to add that to my post. I thought about it when I was showering this morning...if my back didn't hurt so much, taking a shower would be a much nicer experience.