HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Coping with crowds

Support Forums
>
Bipolar Disorder
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 11/23/2010 1:54 AM (GMT 0)
Hi. Before I was diagnosed, I could shop anywhere. After my psychotic episode and then my diagnosis, I am agitated easily. Walking into a grocery with more than 10 people in it is a real problem for me. I hold my breath and dive in and get the hell out as fast as possible. I have done this for more than a year now and it doesnt seem to be getting easier. I'm 600mg of Lithium/day. Any suggestions?
Posted 11/23/2010 4:27 AM (GMT 0)
Crowds get to me now too. I used to work retail and had no problem. I loved to shop. Now, I do my shopping in the time that no one will be there. If the parking lot is full, I wait until another time. I feel like the crowd is actually chasing me therough the store. (they are not) I think part of this is that I have secluded myself since I stopped working and I don't have to deal with the crowds as often. I get out of practice.

But then being in practice to deal with the crowds may be what brought me to the point where I could no longer handle my life as it was. Walks a fine line, as my PSY says.
Posted 11/23/2010 6:45 AM (GMT 0)
OMG! You have no idea how long i have waited for someone else to say this.  I thought it was just me...losing my mind...bit by bit.  I feel that chasing too.  So sometimes i force myself to physically stop moving in the store and make a 360 degree scan and ask myself, what is everyone doing around me and how close are they?  if someone gets too close, i step aside and let them go by.  when i realize that no one is watching me and no one is on my heels, i push forward and accomplish "my mission".

Yes i used to love to shop too.  But not anymore.  And yes, i try to shop early in the morning or late at night.  And no i will not shop if the parking lot is full and for me, it's not a loss or a strike against myself---i dont shop when the parking lot is full because i know that when i spend less than 5 minutes in that store, i will lose touch with reality. voices and sounds will echo, noises are enhanced including the shuffling of feet and literally, my world begins to spin.  And i thought it only happened in movies.

Thanks for sharing.

Posted 11/25/2010 12:01 AM (GMT 0)
I would definitely talk with your pdoc about this.  Most people with bp are on more than one med to help with different types of symptoms.  I am surprised you are not on some anti-psychotic, such as risperidone, which I am on even though I have never been psychotic.  It helps me with obsessive thinking and depression.  Just some thoughts.
Posted 11/25/2010 12:10 AM (GMT 0)
i moved 900kms from old my pdoc 5 months ago and i dont have a new one. a work in progress
Posted 11/25/2010 1:22 AM (GMT 0)
I don't know how far that is 900 kms, and don't even know how to figure it out, ha ha. But in this case, you gotta get a new doc, or make an occasional trek back to the old one. Maybe he would be agreeable to a phone appt. if you explain that you moved but are overwhelmed by this "feeling" in the store. It doesn't seem like these feelings should be hanging on when you are getting some meds and have attacked this problem head-on. And you really have done a courageous job of it. At one time I had a similar problem, in restaurants, it seemed that the dishes and glasses were clinking and clanking madly, and the sounds and voices were roaring in my ears. Had to go outside it was so bad. I don't remember how or when that went away. But I have been on a lot of meds, and I think you need more meds.
While you are waiting for an appt to get into a new doc, try calling the old one, leave a concise msg about your situation. Maybe he will do something.
Posted 11/25/2010 4:41 AM (GMT 0)
900 kms is 553 miles. lol

 

Posted 11/25/2010 12:56 PM (GMT 0)

I hate crowds. I really hate malls. The grocery store can get at me too. It's so tough because I've been on antipsychotics in the past and I didn't notice an improvement for this symptom for myself, but I would hope it would help with others. I think doing the best we can by shopping at better times (morning, night). I know taking my Clonazepam(Klonopin) helps me a ton before I go. Helps me relax a lot more.

Oh my, I am dreading the holiday shopping....!

Posted 11/25/2010 5:03 PM (GMT 0)
The holiday shopping has already started and the stores are so dang busy! I really pick up on the sense of panic and tension as christmas approaches. I wish i was more crafty and i could just knit a sweater for everyone. Clonazepam doesnt do anything for me but thanks for the tip. I might try a Lorazepam (Ativan) to see if it helps me cope better. Merry Christmas from Canada!
Posted 11/26/2010 8:32 PM (GMT 0)
 

  I hate crowds, especially nightclubs or bars, i just cant do those places. Crowds at stores, i avoid if i can, i shop the grocery store at ten pm at night, nice and quiet then.

  At the end of the day, i just accept this is something i can live with, with some modifications, and missing out on the club scene or bar scene isnt a issue to me.

   Bill

Posted 11/27/2010 7:03 AM (GMT 0)
With 3 kids I can't always avoid the crowd- but it is better when i can. I actually ventured out today (Black Friday) and took my daughter to get her ears pierced. I took a deep breath, and dove in. I got her earings- I stopped in a shoe store, not because I needed shoes, but because the crowd wasn't in there, tried on shoes with my kids for a moment, then made it to the van. (Whew!)
As much as I insist that I would like to go "sport shopping" for black friday next year, I wonder if I will be able to hack it. Groceries need bought, but I'm not going shopping for more than what I can send my oldest into the store to fetch for me until early monday morning when no one will be there.

I do feel the panic of the store- for hours after going in I felt like I was missing something vital. I was forgetting to do something i should have had done already. I needed to buy something.....
Posted 11/28/2010 3:41 PM (GMT 0)
Oh yeah. The stores. *shivers* Sometimes I would have a cart full of stuff and just abandon it and leave. It's the crowds, the not being able to get through the aisles because some idiot is hogging the whole thing, the waiting in line at the registers for 20 minutes. The people that have more than 20 items in the quick checkout. (I've literally yelled at people for that one) For years I only went out of the house when I absolutely had to. and then my Dr gave me niravam (xanax). I take one of those a few minutes before I go somewhere. It has utterly changed my life. I can get through shopping w/o wanting to kill someone, I can spend more time at parties because I'm not ready to run out the door at the first opportunity. It's anxiety you feel and quickly treated with a benzo.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply