Being in crowded places

Post Reply New Topic

Whenever I am out in public where there's a lot of people I always seem to be in everyone's way. It's as if everyone else knows where, and how to move in conjunction with everyone around them in some sort of organized nonverbal way.

Yesterday, I was out shopping with my family, and apparently I blocked people's way, and cut a few people off without realizing it. I wouldn't have noticed, but my husband informed me of my behavior. He was nice about it, which is good, because he used to not be. I have been told by several people that I'm being rude, not using common sense , or not paying attention to my surroundings when I am trying my very best.

I have noticed my son who has PDD-NOS seems to have trouble navigating crowds, too. He stares at his feet, which causes him to run into people, and objects.

Is this sort of thing hard for anyone else?

I often get overanxious in crowds and end up pushing people too hard. I once pushed someone so hard (without realising) that she landed on the floor. Crowds are traumatising.

I kind of get what your saying but its everyone else who gets in my way.

In crowded places I feel like everyone is in MY way. That many people are just overwhelming and I basically see them as moving clutter to be gotten around.

I do not like crowds, especially when it's like sardines in a can. A crowd, especially one that involves motion, makes me dizzy and disoriented. I chalk that up to being on the autistic spectrum. It's certainly no fun, but hey at least I'm walking. It'd be a lot worse, I think, to be confined in a powerchair.

I get extremely nervous in big crowds. I am scared that they are talking about me (it isn't a delusion because I DO sometimes act weird and talk weird) and reading my mind. Sometimes it gets so severe that I actually get a panic attack.

I can get to where I feel that people are in my way, too. That feeling gets worse, and worse the more anxious I get. I just don't understand why people move soooo slowly. If I'm out shopping for example, I have an objective, a goal. I do not mosey along at a pace of a snail looking at everything. I guess that could be why I run over people, and cut them off. I am so focused on the task at hand that I'm not paying attention to the people around me. I usually am trying to be polite, and I'm embarrassed when I'm informed after the fact that I was being rude.

Slowmuntant, I know what you mean about the powerchairs. I think if I were confined to one of those I would never leave the house. They seem so difficult to navigate. I'd be in meltdown mode in less than 15 minutes.

The scariest experience for me was stopping in Grand Central Terminal in New York City when I was traveling to visit my ex-boyfriend in Upstate NY. So crowded--I got major sensory overload and ended up having a panic attack.

Not fun.

I get very stressed out in crowds (sometimes without even realizing it until it either comes out in response to a minor trigger, or until I get home and am exhausted and headachy). This usually leads to that feeling of "everyone is in my way," coupled with increasing irritation and more of an inclination to make it past people any way I can (squeeze by, brush by, etc.). Sensory overload is set off even in the proximity of people when like this, and it gets worse for everything else, too.
I definitely also don't notice when I cut people off; I look at my feet a lot (or at things that catch my attention) and have had this pointed out to me by people accompanying me on numerous occasions. Now I occasionally notice it (I haven't improved much) but never soon enough to prevent it.

OH f**k, YES I HAVE EXPERIENCED THIS IN CROWDS. YES, YES< YES!. FUVKING A. YES IKNOW HOW YOU FEEL EXACTLY.

Also, it's mainly in larger and more crowded places; it depends on how I feel but yes Crowds can scare and disturb and disorient people.

I can't handle crowds

I hate being in crowds. They're so loud and enclosing and I always feel trapped. I also feel like I'm running an obstacle course; everyone seems to get by with little difficulty, and yet for me I have to be constantly diligent or run into someone.