Whether you agree with it or not, rightfully or wrongly, I have quite a following amongst young people who knew that I used to be a teacher and have been, in their words, not mine, 'proud' of how I have dealt with the situation. Some of them have even described me as a 'role model'. I don't think I am a bad person, but would certainly not recommend following me as a role model or emulating the way I have lived my life necessarily. There are far more worthy people on this planet. However, being that that is indeed the case, I feel I have a responsibility to share with those young people a chapter from my past that may also be affecting them.
Up until the age of 13, I used to wet the bed on a nightly basis. OK, I'm not saying I was proud of pissing my pyjamas, but I'm proud now to stand up and say that I used to do that and even prouder to say that it does stop and there is an end. Bedwetting is quite a common problem among young people. In most cases, they finish at a relatively young age, but some people, like myself may carry on into their high school and teen years. It is embarrassing and annoying of course. Whenever I went on school trips, which I did reluctantly, I would have to stay with a teacher or, in the case of an exchange, a teacher from the foreign school. Which actually wasn't so bad after all.
Bedwetting can be stressful for families. I'm not sure if I felt it at the time, but I definitely appreciate the fact that my Mum would wash my sheets and blankets every single day. Of course, I wasn't allowed a duvet, just a blanket a strip of a sheet and a plastic sheet covering the whole bed underneath.
The doctors tried many things to solve the condition. Medication, staying off citrus drinks, hypnosis, spending week sin hospital, I was even given gadgets that would beep and shake my pillow everytime I pissed. But none of them worked. In the end, I just stopped.
So the message to those young people who may still be suffering from a regular or occasional case of bedwetting is that you are not alone. It will stop, one day. And just because you wet your bed at one stage in your life doesn't mean you can't go on to become a banker, a civil servant, a teacher, a published writer, an actor, a singer, a stripper, a model, a porn star (funnily enough all things that I have gone onto do). You will be able to live and realise your dreams as easily as anyone else.
So you may be ashamed of wetting the bed right now. But in a few years time when it is all behind you I hope that you will be able to stand up and proudly say "yes, I used to wet my bed, but look at me now, it hasn't affected me in the slightest. I pissed and now I'm proud".
If you, or someone you know, suffers from bed-wetting, there is plenty of help and advice out there. Check out these following sites to start with:
http://www.bedwetting.co.uk/
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/bedwetting/Pages/Introduction.aspx
www.johnnyanglais.com
Yes, I used to do it too! I remember freaking out at the age of 12 when being asked in a school medical if I did, before going on the school's trip abroad. Likewise I thought it was only me who did it; an...d being asked about it during the medical really floored me. I felt like Rumplestiltskin!! I also lied in my reply and coped by taking a towel with me on the trip!!And yes, it is somehting that suddenly stops, thankfully. Congratulations for bringing this potentially embarrassing topic out into this forum for open discussion (confession?).Hopefully It will almost certainly give a lot of people reassurance, hope and peace, especially those young people affected bi at the present time!! P.I.P!!!!
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