The brightness in the supermarket-anyone else?

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Yesterday going round the supermarket I found it hard to keep my eyes wide open .It just seemed so bright in there .

Sometimes yes, it depends on how they're lit. The one near me is not too bad during daylight hours, because it's mostly lit by skylights then, but I try not to go after dark when it's all lit by strip lights - being able to perceive them flickering and the odd colouring are as much of the problem as the brightness.

Visually, I find it more of a problem that there's just too much sensory input vying for my attention, especially when there are lots of other shoppers moving around - I get disorientated because I can't see the wood for the trees. The noise is what I generally find much more oppressive, though.

I'm not sure about sensory input . I know when I shopped in store while living at my previous place , I'd get visually overwhelmed by the amount of items there were for sale . I'd end up shopping haphazardly .


Nowadays I make a shopping list , and my stepdaughter guides me round the relevant aisles . I don't get so overwhelmed that way.

^ Repetition is the only reliable solution for me - I go to the supermarket about every third day or so, and I buy exactly the same items every time, bar the odd "once a month" thing like washing powder or loo roll. If they move the products around the store or stop stocking something that I usually get, it can easily fluster me enough that I just have to leave, or I turn into an immobile obstacle for a while. I've tried using lists, but it doesn't really help. Lists only tell me what I want to get, which I know well enough already; it's the activity of shopping in and of itself that's the problem - and it only goes smoothly if I can do it like an automaton, minimising my awareness of the environment.

I'm well aware that this way of doing it makes my diet very repetitive, and that there are consequences for my health of this; but it's better than going hungry. I'd use internet shopping, but I figure that going on foot is a fair trade, as it forces me to get out into the world and get some exercise that I might otherwise avoid.

I work in a supermarket and the lights are awful for my eyes. When I am able to get a week off work, the whites of my eyes look healthy and white. When I am back at work, they are red, bloodshot, translucent and ill looking, and they hurt a lot too.

I have thought about wearing dark glasses or something but I think people would look at me/treat me weird if I suddenly started wearing them.

Lights don't bother me at all. In fact I find bright lights satisfying. Dim lights upset me more.

The lights, the chemical smells, the noise... ugh!

Hate supermarkets. But the sound is the worst part for me, esp air con and fridges.

I wear sound canceling headphones. I hate the lighting too, but cutting out the sound really helps.

Two of the 3 supermarkets where I live recently changed their layout. It took everything in me not to just start screaming like a madman. It was so overwhelming!

I have never had any problems with the lights in supermarkets. I'm glad they're not dimmer so I can check the quality of fruit etc and see dates properly.

I have no problems with the normal sounds of shopping either.


What I don't like about grocery shopping though, is that it seems that every time I learn my way around shop, they make changes in there and move things around so I have to go around everywhere to find the stuff I'm looking for. And even worse, how they suddenly don't have certain items anymore so I have to go to several stores just to get regular food

Yeah I wear sunglasses in supermarkets. I find the whole experience oppressive.

I discovered I had Irlens syndrom some years ago at college because of my difficulty reading in the fluorescent light and how unwell and tired I got. Thanks to a rather nice support teacher who knew the signs.

Hats help too, like a baseball cap or a sunhat, whatever takes your fancy.

I like to sit in a darkish room with the curtains pulled.

I think it is also called scotopic sensitivity if anyone want to look it up.

My purple reading glasses look very 60/70's which have irlens lenses.

Yeah, get this in some supermarkets with harsh strip lighting and noise. I just want to get out of there as quickly as possible but without abandoning the reason for being there, so my behaviour from my partner's point of view can become quite "challenging".

The one place (in Canada) I used to love shopping at was Target because it was quiet, they didn't have a PA system and it wasn't too bright. I could even go on Sunday nights and have almost the whole store to myself! Unfortunately they didn't even last 2 years.

The brightness of everywhere bothers me.

Supermarkets are particularly bad because there's a lot of shiny chrome (metal racks, shelving, trolley carts) and lots of glass. There are also lots of bright colours because of displays and packaging. I've taken to wearing polarised sunglasses just about everywhere I go.

It is so bright that I wear sunglasses to the supermarket.

Yep that's what shades are for