Get me out of here!

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Has anyone else experienced this?

I always feel anxious when shopping in a crowded store. However, there have been some times when I have left my shopping cart and walked out of the store as quickly as I could without running. Walmart Superstores seem to be the worst. Something about the combination of fluorescent lights, noise, too many people, too many things on the shelves, too many colors. I feel anxious, agitated, feel like I can't breathe, and everything in me wants to just bolt out of there. If there is someone shopping with me, I get agitated and short with them until we get out of there.

Is this an AS meltdown from overstimulation? If you have experienced this, how do you handle shopping to avoid this?

The exact same thing happens to me (especially in Wal-Mart). I do think it's over-stimulation; too many sights, sounds, smells...there have been times when I've actually started crying!

The only thing that works for me is avoiding going into stores like that when I know they will be crowded. Early mornings or late nights are best for this, I have found.

Some suggestions:

- Make a list of what you pretend to buy and go straight to the sections where you will find the products.
- Do you like music? Get an MP3 player (the majority of phones nowadays also do this) and use earphones while doing shopping, it always calms me.

I never go to Walmart or the mall--both places give me the effect you describe. I do my grocery shopping at a medium sized neighborhood store, usually on Sunday mornings when it is least crowded.

I shop as little as possible for that very reason.

I'm usually OK for the first few minutes after entering either a grocery store or a Wal-Mart, but the longer I'm there, the more I can feel the anxiety building. I've never left my cart and walked out, but I do at some point feel a strong need to get out. Along with the over-stimulation already mentioned, I get very aggravated trying to navigate my way around lots of people just milling about aimlessly. It overloads my circuits constantly having to readjust my trajectory. What mostly brings me to the brink of a meltdown is people blocking an aisle I need to get down, oblivious to the fact that other shoppers want to get through. I always try to be patient and wait for them to move, but inside I feel like I'm about to explode.

I agree with the suggestions to try to shop during off-peak hours, and making lists in advance.
Also, if you are familiar with the layout of the store, before you go in, mentally map out the quickest route to get all the items you need.
The idea of an MP3 player sounds like a good idea as far as helping with anxiety, but you may get a bit of a hassle trying to leave a Wal-Mart with it.

I do most of my shopping online. It saves me from having to spend so much money on gas and taxes. It also lets me avoid the crowds. In addition, I prefer to shop at more stress free places if I do go to a store and shop. Wal-mart has high prices, poor customer service, and is inconvenient. In addition Wal-mart moves items around so people are forced to look at stuff Wal-mart wants them to buy before they are able to get to the stuff they came in for. A better discount place to buy things are Dollar General and Family Dollar.

As far as grocery stores are concerned, I prefer to shop at around 2 or 3 am when I can go in and get what I want without having to worry about bumping into people or constantly shuffling to get out of other people's way or wait for others to get out of my way. I also carry a list, and it is organized to coincide with the stores layout. In other words, if the first department I go through is the produce department, then the first things on my list are produce items. If the last department I walk through is the bread department, then the last thing on my list is bread items. I can usually fill up a cart and be in the checkout line within 15 minutes or less.

I simply use my own cell phone as an mp3 player (most phones nowadays allow this) and never had any kind of problems... i also make sure that i already enter the store wearing the earphones and only take then off when paying...

I can't believe how sweaty and dizzy I get when I go shopping when its crowded if I have to go early in the day I use the automated checkout. I do most of my shopping after 10:00 pm. There fewer people in the supermarket the only thing I hate about going this late is that the automatic checkout is closed down after 11:00 pm.

Some shops make me like that. I quite like the Asda (part of Wal-Mart group) near here as it doesn't get too crowded and the aisles are fairly wide. It's an old building for a supermarket(built in the early 80s) and the level of lighting is just right, for me. But the one in the next town is like hell and I've felt like screaming, any time I've had the misfortune to be there. I love going to Ikea, but as soon as we approach the lighting dept, I start to feel ill. So I make a swift exit from there.

Smells and lights don't bother me, and the sound of hustle and bustle with people don't worry me either. The only noise what does worry me in supermarkets is kids shouting or screaming, announcements through the speakers (if they're too loud for what they need to be), and workers throwing plastic boxes onto the floor, or throwing other things what make a distracting slapping sort of noise.

But to me, there is one thing what is worse than noise, and that is people. The way they stare at me as though I'm not meant to be there. The way they are always standing right next to me, where ever I stand. Or - where ever I stand, somebody always needs to get something off the shelf directly in front of where I'm standing. I feel I'm always being pushed about, because where ever I stand I'm always in somebody's way, or I'm always standing in the wrong space. There is nothing worse than trying to look for something, and suddenly an arm cuts across my view, and I quickly flinch and see that I'm standing right in the way of somebody, and they're trying to reach past me to get to something they need. It pisses me off! Also - I hate it when I'm with somebody and they're taking forever to make up their mind what they want to buy, and they're standing in one place for about 30 minutes still deciding and umming and arring, and you're just standing there, waiting for them to hurry up and pick something. Oh - and don't you hate it when you're daydreaming (whilst waiting for the person who you're with to choose something), and then you hear a very nearby voice groan in your ear, ''excuse me please!'', and you also feel hands touching your arms, giving you a gentle and friendly push out of the way, and you turn round and realise you're blocking a whole gangway. Ohh - now THAT pisses me OFF!! !! !! !! !! !! !! That happened to me last week, and although being touched doesn't bother me, it does when a stranger is touching me. It makes me jump when that happens - when I'm standing somewhere and somebody comes up close behind me and touches me and tells me to step out of the way, especially when I was daydreaming. And that is the point when I think, ''get me out of here!''

I feel the same way when I'm shopping at a grocery store, as well.