How do you overcome store anxiety

[Tiffany502]

I have horrible store anxiety iam terrified of going in any store i always take someone w me and it still doesnt help i take a little xanax to help but its still hard. Does anyone have any tricks?

[Maxyz3]

Cure lies in the places you fear..practice going into the store..realize there is nothing in there that will hurt you , you will be safe going in. Because you had bad feelings going into a store..Your fearing the feelings will come back..Your setting your self up to feel funny. Talk to yourself while in the store..say I am ok I will get through this, nothing bad is going to happen to me here I am safe. They are only feelings and won't hurt me..I can do this while taking a deep breath. Cure lies in the places we fear.dont give up as confidence gets better so will your feelings stop.

[Hidden]

Hi Tiffany, I have terrible store anxiety too. I don’t know what it is, but after 20 minutes I need to rush to the check out line and get out. I have also gotten panic attacks inside stores, which always draws attention from well meaning shoppers, but makes the whole situation worse. I don’t get this feeling in all stores like, mom and pop stores. But stores like Walmart, Malls and such is very hard for me. The lights are overwhelming, I seem to hear every sound in the place and all the stuff is suffocating. I’ve had this going on for decades and it’s doesn’t go away, no matter what you try. I’ve tried it all, including benzodiazepines.

The only thing that has worked for me is PRAZOSIN, which is actually a blood pressure medication but has an effect on our adrenal glands for those of us that tend to get into fight-flight mode in certain situations. I’m a bit better, I live in a very remote area so I do have to go to Walmart once a month to get supplies. Before I could only go either to the food section or the general part of the store. Now I’m a bit better, I can stay longer and I’m not running out in panic at the end of my shopping. Neither am I cutting it short and leaving behind things supplies that I need.

[Jeff1943]

Do what you fear and the death of fear is assured. Enter the store alone, sure the bad feelings will come, accept them for the moment. You've had bad feelings before so it's nothing new. Only this time you accept them and go forward anyway. Imagine you're being propelled round by some outside source, imagine you're floating round the store courtesy of some invisible force. I don't know about you but bright lights give me derealisation and most stores are hyper bright so maybe wear shades. They will make you look cool too.😎

When you've had enough leave, reward yourself, have your nails done, treat yourself to lunch. Do it again another day only do it for longer, same drill, accept the bad feelings for the moment, float round like you're on a cloud.

There's nothing in there to fear, Tiffany, nobody in there is going to harm you. You won't faint, vomit or become hysterical. You might feel like it but you won't actually do it, nobody ever does. You may feel panicky but just accept it, keep on moving. Do what you fear and the death of fear is assured.

[Hidden]

It takes practice, practice going and just sitting in the parking lot a few minutes. Then practice going and going inside for 2 minutes, each day increase by a minute.

[Agora1]

Hi Tiffany502, when my anxiety was at it's worse is when I started having trouble with store anxiety as well. Since deep breathing worked in getting me out of the house after 5 years of being agoraphobic, I decided to use that tool to expand my horizons.

To my surprise it worked while driving, in not allowing stop lights, train tracks to be my triggers. I literally breathe my way through. It works for me.

Going to the big box stores use to be a nightmare from the high ceilings to the buzzing of the fluorescent lighting to the overstimulation of looking at the shelves stocked with so many items.

I started slowly as lynnalice said with maybe going in for one item. I always used a cart to hang onto. You can use sunglasses as Jeff1943 stated in cutting the glare.

Whatever you use as a tool remember it's all about hypersensitive nervous system. The subconscious mind is telling us we are in danger when we're not. Because of that thought the adrenaline runs wild. What stops the thought, the adrenaline and calms the nervous system is deep breathing. Knowing that all the symptoms are coming from an irrational thought that we believe. Breathing deeply will put everything back in place allowing you to shop to your heart's content. Hydrating is helpful as well. At the beginning, there were a couple times that anxiety started breaking through and all I had to do was look in my cart

and say to myself "No way am I going to leave all these things in the cart" "I spent too much time and effort in getting this far" As a true Warrior does, I continued on to the check out counter, to my car and then home where I was so proud of myself that it erased any glitches I may have had.

It's a matter of going forward little by little. Each time you succeed it gets easier the next time. You've gotten a lot of good tricks from the group, now add some of your own and enjoy Shopping Tiffany xx

[Christory77]

The thing is there really isn’t a cure. Looking for a cure is an easy way to stay defeated. Look for small steps that over time build to bigger and bigger steps. Sit in the parking lot until the comfort level is there. From there walk in. If you need to leave that’s fine. You have a starting point. Each time build and build and eventually you will not even think about it. The anxiety will always be there, it’s just about managing it.

[Tiffany502]

Thank you all for your replies ❤