Left my home for the first time in 3-4 months

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Today, I went shopping with my mom after not leaving home for almost 4 full months and I can't believe I actually did it. My head is killing me and I feel exhausted, but I DID IT.

I'm not going to lie and pretend I enjoyed it. In fact, it was grueling and I hated every second of it....but it's a start. My mom likes to bargain shop and takes forever to pick through EVERY.SINGLE.THING., so that may be why I didn't enjoy myself very much. We stayed out shopping for almost 5 hours.

I need some tips on how to make going to public places more bearable. The lighting in stores bother me a lot, the cash registers beeping hurts my ears, people walking down the isles in all different directions bothers me, and people getting too close and bumping into me also upsets me quite a bit.

Any tips are greatly appreciated! I'm trying to socialize and go to public places at least once a week now.

Excellent .

Is the lighting too bright? If so, I'd suggest lightly tinted sunglasses, or if it is an acclamation issue, one trick is to close your eyes before you enter a room with different lighting and your eyes readjust to it. It doesn't work for everyone or everytime, but it helps with me in the mornings before turning on lights or entering/exiting the outdoors. For the beeping, a covert MP3 player might help if you can stand the music/static or opperate it when you need to without being too obvious. As for the people, I avoid Wednesdays and Saturdays because they are senior discount days at some grocers, and also hours after 3 or 5 because school lets out and people get off work.

Hope that helps.

Going out after 4 months and barging into a crowded place is like getting up from sleep and rushing into a flood light area.
Take it easy dont go to crowded places initially
start with a quite park, walk in nature
tread slowly and attend meetup of people with social anxiety or asperger
once you get comfortable then head towards more crowded area with more people

Maybe you could try something more low-key, like a bargain bookstore or other small shop with things you could browse for 5 hours?

I know how you feel, I am terrified of public places but I do manage to conquer my fear by going to quiet places like a woodland walk or a nature park or a quiet meadow or beach to start with and then build it up in time, then finally go to places like a shopping centre or a street I am still finding it hard but I know it works good luck!

Five hours? o_O

Aside from routine trips to high school/college/gamestop/etc, I don't get out very often. None of those wild parties, never actually had a date ( Met my girlfriend on WP :3 ).

I live with a friend and he does most of the shopping for us because he knows how much I hate leaving the house. I had similar sensory experiences to the ones you've mentioned, and I've got anxiety-induced seizures. I've become very agoraphobic over the past year or two.

If I'm forced into going grocery shopping, I wear headphones and listen to something relaxing, like Olafur Arnalds or ocean waves. I usually wear earbuds, but there are days when even those aren't good enough and I have to use my ear-covering Hello Kitty headphones and draw ridiculous amounts of attention to myself. Another thing I've found that helps me is having a drink with me to focus on. I'll make a cup of coffee (if I'm tired) or herbal tea (if I'm high-strung) and bring it in a travel mug. I practice mindfulness with it; when I go to take a drink, I try to focus only on the cup, then the act of drinking, then the taste, etc etc etc. It helps to focus your ability to drown out the excess stimuli, though it doesn't always work. Take your time, know your limits, and don't be afraid to look a little out of place to make yourself more comfortable.

At my usual grocery store, people are pretty used to seeing me come in mid-day, trailing behind my friend a few steps, staring at the floor with my headphones in, a mug of tea in one hand and some serious stimming going on in the other. Sure, people look at me and I feel kind of awkward, but I'm being true to myself and knowing what tools are needed to complete the task.