Crowds....

[AdminAssistant]

I have, I think, crowd claustrophobia. (Never had a diagnosis.)

Basically, large groups of people make me uncomfortable. I feel like I need to escape, to get outside, get some air.

I'm also not the hugest fan of live music, especially local bands in bars. 1) They never have a good audio set-up. It's always loud and static-y with lots of feedback and 2) it's LOUD. I came out to chat with my friends, not listen to your crappy cover of the latest Coldplay hit.*

Needless to say, I don't go to many concerts and I rarely go bar-hopping downtown. The few times I've tried going to concerts (Birthday Massacre and Dresden Dolls), I enjoyed myself, because I love those bands. But I was so miserable and uncomfortable and TIRED, especially at the Dolls concert, which had way way way too many opening acts. Sorry, I'm there to see Amanda Fucking Palmer and Brian Viglione, not a trio of baton twirlers from BFE, Missouri.

Anyway. Halloween is coming up, and one of my friends was going to host a house party, which I was pretty excited about. There wouldn't be any pressure to dress up if I didn't have the time or cash to put something together, and it would just be a chill evening. Then she suggests, "Hey, let's just go downtown!!" *sigh* And everyone else jumped on the idea. So now, if I go with them, I HAVE to dress up (or be called a lame, party-crashing loser) and there will be crowds and loads of drunken college idiots to deal with and...gah. I'm not sure I want to go, but I don't want to spend Halloween by myself either. But on the other hand, I'm just so stressed in general right now, and on the weekends I need to relax as much as humanly possible.

At least I came up with an easy Halloween costume idea: Annie Wilkes, from Misery. My hair's not quite the right color or length, but I think it'll be okay.

* There are decent local bands, I'm sure. But in a college town, you tend to get a lot of stoner wanna-bes who shouldn't even be doing karaoke.

[gremcint]

I never really got the music so loud you can't hear anything bit that a lot of places do.

[Boozy]

Some people gain energy from being among crowds. Some people get sapped of it.

I think we're likely to find more of the latter group here, this being the internet and all.

[Flyndaran]

Some people gain energy from being among crowds. Some people get sapped of it.

I think we're likely to find more of the latter group here, this being the internet and all.

Heck yeah. As a state recognized social cripple, the internet is the only place I socialize. Heck, I only frequent two forums including this one.

[joe hx]

Yes! I hate crowds too. The feeling is so... claustrophobic. It's almost as if all the voices and thoughts overwhelm me. It's like this: I cannot help but eavesdrop. I'm always listening in conversations. At restaurants, I can't help listening to the two or three conversations around me. In crowds I think my brain is trying to listen to every conversation and sort it out. Which overwhelms me.

Somewhat related creepy geeky religious note: At church when everyone is saying the same thing (i.e. prayers such as the Lord's prayer) I think it sounds like the Borg from Star Trek.

[BroomJockey]

I never really got the music so loud you can't hear anything bit that a lot of places do.

It's to increase drink sales. Anything you don't know why they do, it's to increase drink sales. If you're not able to talk, due to loud music? You drink. Lights dim so you can't see the other person clearly? Affects speech more, so you drink. Dance floor? You go expend energy, and sweat, so you get a drink after. Temp up too high? You drink.

[Fashion Lad!]

I'm bipolar, it's really depending on where I am with my mood. Depression leads me to hate crowds. Mania leads me to get a thrill off of them.

[gremcint]

It's to increase drink sales. Anything you don't know why they do, it's to increase drink sales. If you're not able to talk, due to loud music? You drink. Lights dim so you can't see the other person clearly? Affects speech more, so you drink. Dance floor? You go expend energy, and sweat, so you get a drink after. Temp up too high? You drink.

replace drink with leave and you'd have what I'd do.

[Kimmik]

I have, I think, crowd claustrophobia. (Never had a diagnosis.)

Basically, large groups of people make me uncomfortable. I feel like I need to escape, to get outside, get some air.

Agoraphobia is the term you would be looking for. Here is a good read

I was on fed disability due to it... I have gotten much better... I finally got a job after 13years. Right now though I am on FMLA. Some ways I have found to deal with the fear is to make sure I am by a door and have someone, that I trust and who understands what it is, who can be my safety. Like when going to a crowded mall I always go with someone that knows about my problem and I warn them in advance that if i say "Out" they need to get me somewhere away from the masses. Like my hubby will take my hand so I can stare at my feet and he will lead me outside or to a quiet place.

[powerboy]

If I am in a small group, then I am fine. If I am in a huge crowd, then I am not okay. If I am at the bar that I go too, then I am okay there.

[Cats]

With me, it's not so much the amount of people, is what's going on. Like at a concert, I don't mind, cause I'm there to see the band, so I don't really need to move (though people shoving is another issue).

In crowds like on the sidewalk or at the mall (where there is frequent movement), I loathe them. I have short legs, so I grew up having to walk fast to keep up with people, and that sort of stuck, so I'm a fast walker. I hate when I'm trying to get somewhere and people are walking at their own snails pace. Now, that in itself is not an issue, but they tend to spread out and take up as much space as possible so no one else can get by, and they tend to be oblivious to a polite "excuse me". I would like to get from point A to point B without feeling like a rat in a maze. Sometimes it can suck to be this ansty, but hey, would it kill some people to just move over and let other people who aren't taking the visual tour just go past? I mean, how would you like it if you sat at an intersection for 5 minutes because that car at the front of the line just didn't feel like moving on the green? Not the best analogy, I know, but when you have somewhere to be, you tend to not want to end up on the slow boat to China to get there.

[Pedersen]

Very few things cause actual stress in me. In fact, that list is as follows: Willful ignorance, traffic, and crowds.

And crowds are the worst, especially crowds in a store. Why? Because nobody leaves a path of any sort. If the sole goal is to get to the opposite end of an aisle, I'll have to go past a good four or five aisles every time.

What really pisses me off, though, is when I'll be heading for an empty aisle to actually buy something from that aisle. I'm standing there, going down the options, and suddenly that aisle is the most crowded, and due to the way that everybody stands around staring, there's no easy way to get out of the aisle.

It's not agoraphobia, since that generates fear. I'm not afraid. I just want to start punching people until they get out of the way.

I totally understand what you mean about hating crowds.

[Boozy]

It's not agoraphobia, since that generates fear. I'm not afraid. I just want to start punching people until they get out of the way.

That tends to be my reaction, too. In crowded shopping centres, I get angry at people just for being there. It's completely irrational, since they have as much of a right to be there as I do.

I never grocery shop on weekends, and my Christmas shopping is either done online or is completed before December.

[AdminAssistant]

Agoraphobia is the term you would be looking for.

Sorry you've had such a rough time with it! I'm not quite that severe; it never gets worse than a mild feeling of anxiety.

Cat, I'm also a fast walker (also short), and slow people drive me crazy. An elderly person, a disabled person, a child...I will have patience for. But..gaah, on campus, big gaggles of teens all chit-chatting or playing with cell phones and Ipods, taking up the entire sidewalk and I need to get to class!!! *grumble*

[Greenday]

I'm not a fan of huge crowds, but I don't hate them or anything. I just don't like large crowds at bars and parties because then I can't hear my friends. That and people bump into me, making me sometimes lose some of my precious beer.

As long as the band is good, I don't mind listening to them. Most bars by me at school don't have bands play. They mostly all use DJs. One bar I like has an acoustic guitar player Sunday nights who is pretty damn good.

But yea, as long as I can move around, crowds don't bother me.