Help Break The Silence Around Toilet Anxiety

Aim

To fund a short public awareness film that helps people understand toilet anxiety and reduces the shame around this hidden problem.

Most people have heard of anxiety. Far fewer people have heard of toilet anxiety. And when they do, they often misunderstand it.

The Fear Nobody Understands is a short public awareness film from The Surrey Institute of Clinical Hypnotherapy, created to help people recognise and better understand toilet anxiety.

Why This Film Matters

Toilet anxiety is not usually a fear of toilets. That would be toilet phobia. Toilet anxiety is the fear of needing a toilet and not being able to get to one in time.

That fear can quietly shape someone’s whole life. Journeys, meetings, queues, traffic delays, social events, days out and even short walks can become loaded with anxiety. People may start checking routes, staying close to toilets, avoiding plans, monitoring body sensations and organising their life around one hidden question, “Can I get there in time?”

Because the subject feels embarrassing or taboo, many people suffer in silence.

This film is being made to change that.

The Story We Want To Tell

The Fear Nobody Understands follows Anna, a capable and outwardly composed woman whose everyday life has become shaped by checking, planning and avoidance. To the people around her, the answer seems simple, go before you leave, check where the toilets are, stop if you need to. But Anna’s real fear is not the toilet itself. It is needing one when access is delayed, blocked, awkward or uncertain.

The film will be scripted and performed by actors, but made in a docustyle way, with the intimacy and emotional truth of a small drama rather than a conventional information film. It will not use real client testimony. Instead, it will use a carefully written fictional story to represent an experience many people find hard to explain.

Our Vision

Our vision is to create a thoughtful, serious and compassionate film that helps people feel recognised, reduces shame, challenges misconceptions and encourages better conversations about toilet anxiety.

How The Money Will Be Used

The full production cost is expected to be around £5,000, even on a modest budget. The Surrey Institute of Clinical Hypnotherapy is already committing £2,500 towards the project. The Kindfame Productions team is also supporting the film by contributing production time, equipment and filmmaking expertise without charging commercial production rates.

This fundraiser will help us cover the remaining practical costs of making the film properly. That includes modest actor fees, travel expenses, locations, sound recording, editing, music, captions, festival submissions, public screening costs and promotional materials.

We are not trying to make a glossy commercial film. We are trying to make a useful one.

A film that helps someone say, “That’s what it feels like.”

A film that helps a partner, friend or family member understand the problem differently.

A film that treats a hidden anxiety condition with seriousness, warmth and dignity.

Any donation, however small, will help us move the project forward. And if you are not able to donate, sharing the campaign would still make a real difference. With a subject like this, awareness is part of the work.

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 15th July 2026 at 9:34pm