Crowds

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For an autistic person, does it help to be inside crowds (or groups), have intimate relationships with people, or worsens the condition?

I dont like being around people much, and i dont get along with many of them. I just get along with smart people which is very rare. I feel irritated among too many people. But i have a feeling that being lonely and isolated makes me more weird.

Crowds are definitely intimidating.Most social interaction with one or two people can be rewarding.As the years go by this sort of communication improves.

I don't mind crowds, you kinda just vanish into them.

I don't like crowds either. I get stuck and can't move to my intended destination. But relationships with one or two people at a time can be very nice. I'm always worried that the rug will get pulled out under me, based on past experiences where I thought someone was my friend and they definitely were not my friend (but I only figured that out in hindsight). I have to keep interacting with people, even if it's just being in the same store as them. Without regular practice, anyone gets weird. If I go too long without talking to someone I don't know, it becomes very hard for me to talk to someone I don't know.

As long as the crowd is well-behaved and not too tight I'm usually OK with them.

I just see the other people as animated obstacles I shouldn't bump into.

I never mind crowds most at the time.

Instead of avoiding them, I thought of ways how to toy with them.

If I'm not in a mood to deal with their noise, that's when I mind.

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It really depends on multiple variables for me. In general I can tolerate crowds around me to differing degrees, but only when I am not the focal point of the group or crowd.

I have always enjoyed going to listen to good live music, but do have a temperature issue with these types of crowds as they often get extremely hot and sweaty. I usually find a good spot off behind the crowd where I can watch and listen without being bumped into every two seconds and I'm completely fine.

I love putting on my headphones and listen to music or a podcast while I walk around the local farmers market, and I think because I am outside the crowd around me usually seems more mentally entertaining than annoying. Put me in a crowded indoor shopping location and I am usually super stressed and irritable very quick.

I do find the older I get the less tolerant I become on some areas regarding crowds, while in others I've actually become more tolerant. I think when technology got to the point where I could wear headphones and listen to music in public it helped in both regards as they helped create a barrier between me and the crowd. They help defend against mental and emotional overload from being surrounded by so many strange people, but I do admit to typically find it easier to just hide behind the music and avoid interacting with others unless absolutely necessary.

I prefer to avoid crowds. Some of my medical stuff says I have claustrophobia because I hate being on majorly overcrowded buses & places with major crowds but I don't have a problem with tight spaces in general like small closets. I think my issue is more social anxiety & something like PTSD from being physically bullied as a kid. Other factors for me are probably visual processing problems, major problems paying attention in general, & a tad of auditory processing disorder. Two of the three jobs I had were retail & I did custodial stuff while the stores were open & I handled the crowds OK partly because I tuned the crowds out to focus on my work.

Crowds of strangers in public can make me anxious, because I can get impatient. I like to walk fast and you can't do that when it's too crowded. Also I hate being in the way, and usually when it's crowded you're standing in somebody's way. I don't mind being on a crowded train or bus if I'm sitting down and not getting off for a long while.

But I don't have a lot of patience for dithering people or kids with no motor skills that just run into you. I get very angry inside and I can't always stop it from coming out in my facial expressions. It's like I want people to know how I'm feeling but when they react (non-verbally) I suddenly feel guilty and wish I could be more passive.

One of my most spectacular meltdowns was caused by being in a crowd. It was a uni Open Day and I was trying to get to the library. The crowd was so dense that I couldn't make headway. I started crying and went inside the first door I found which was the uni medical centre. I sat on a chair and curled into a ball still crying. A nurse came up to me and asked what was wrong. But I couldn't speak because I was crying so hard. She left me to it.

Eventually I calmed down (I used a whole bunch of tissues) and talked to the nurse about what happened. She said I could stay where I was as long as I felt the need to. It was a good while before I felt like going back outside.

I hate crowds. They're a great way to spread germs and disease.

And if a disaster strikes, and it most often does where there are crowds, the people will panic and trample you to death as they run for their lives.

Crowds and noise, I'm going home!

I went to the supermarket with my partner today to top up on groceries. But because my partner seemed to be in a bad mood it made me less relaxed so I felt impatient and annoyed at other people in there too. I think he was in a bad mood because they had moved everything around in this supermarket and he didn't know where everything was (see, it affects NTs too!)
But I do wish he'd been more chilled, because then I would have been more chilled too.
There weren't really any noisy kids or babies in there, but I was still flustered. People kept dawdling and dithering about in front of me and I just wanted to move quickly in and out of each aisle. I didn't want people in my personal space, so I had to keep looking over my shoulder to make sure nobody was standing right there wanting to get exactly where I'm standing, which was impairing my focus on what I was trying to buy. I have quite good peripheral vision normally but when I am in a busy supermarket I suddenly lose my peripheral vision and so have to turn my head to watch out for people coming near me.
I don't like strangers in my personal space because it always feels like I'm in the way, like a clumsy child or a confused old lady. I hate people sneaking up from behind me and reaching out an arm to get the exact item in front of me, or squeaking an "excuse me" from over my shoulder. It's like people just appear out the woodwork in supermarkets, you could be in an empty aisle and you relax and focus on what you're looking for, then suddenly some petite little young woman creeps up from behind you and squeaks "excuse me" and scuttles in front of you to grab something.

I'll bet an elephant in the supermarket would get in the way less than I do.

I dont have an issue with crowds if I am there for a purpose, we all share a common reason to be there.

I would/did have an issue with being around classmates and peers in the hallway though, I think because its so random everyone has a different vibe and going to do different things and I got bullied at school and it carried over that I am nervous in situations that vaguely resemble the past even now, even though its not something that would happen to me anymore