Hello and welcome to Healthcare Magic. Thanks for your query. Your problems of difficulty in passing stools and hard stools, followed by mild bleeding seems to be indicative of an anal fissure. Anal fissures are tears in the mucosa of the anal canal, due to the impact of hard stools. Sometimes, a chronic anal fissure can result in a fold of skin in the anal opening (called a sentinel pile ), which may be appear to be a hemorrhoid. The basic cause of this problem is constipation and recurrent passage of hard stools. So, I would advise you the following: - Avoid constipation by trying the following remedial measures: increasing the fibre content in your diet (take plenty of fruits and vegetables), you can also try a natural fibre laxative like Naturolax or Fybogel; keep yourself adequately hydrated by drinking plenty of water. - You can use a local anesthetic like Lignocaine gel to relieve the pain due to the fissure. - If these simple measures don t provide relief, then you need tp see a doctor for further evaluation and treatment. Regarding your problem of avoiding going out, it appears that you past negative experiences have created a psychological fear / phobia of public situations which could be potentially embarassing due to your bowel problem. You can deal with it by gradually exposing yourself to public situations, practicing relaxation techniques and learning to overcome this fear / phobia. You can also seek professional help from a psychiatrist to learn behavioural and psychological techniques to deal with this problem. Wish you all the best. Regards, Dr. Jonas Sundarakumar Consultant Psychiatrist