Walmart anxiety attack

Let me start this by saying that I absolutely loathe shopping at Walmart.I hate the crowds, I hate the noise, and I hate that the employees are so rude. During daylight hours they are. We usually shop at Walmart after midnight, but my boyfriend thought since we were already in town we might as well go and get it over with. I took a Klonopin before we got there. I know how it works with my anxiety. We hadn't even been in the store 15 minutes when I was ready to hit this other customer that was blocking the aisle. My boyfriend yelled out "Escuse Us!!" He knew I would walk up to the guy and kick him in the shins. I did that 2 years ago during Christmas season. We spent 2 HOURS in Walmart yesterday!!! By the time we got to the truck I was sweating (52 degrees outside), I was shaking, almost in tears, and my chest was hurting. I was glad to get home and put up the groceries. I took another Klonopin and sat on the couch with my fuzzy blanket and tried to calm down. I wond up going to sleep for an hour. When I woke up I was calmer, but my chest was still hurting. Now here it is 5:30 am the next day and I just had another anxiety attack and my chest is hurting again.

JUST A VENT: I know there is not much to be done for anxiety.
Oh yeah. I missed my pdoc appointment yesterday morning. I slept right through the alarm. First night I had more than 4 hours sleep, it felt good but missing my appointment started the stress rolling first thing in the morning.

I go thru that too--every time i go to walmart. my sister and daughter wont even go with me to walmart anymore for that very reason.

I cannot tell you how many times I've been in your exact position, just in the past few weeks.

I LOATHE Walmart. Love their prices, hate all the lights, ppl going in every direction. If I go in there it's late at night, wearing sunglasses, looking like an idiot, with hardly anyone around. I too get the, "You wana **** with me?" thing going on, it sucks!!!!

And the subsequent panic attacks despite taking the anxiety med. It is so frustrating and makes me want to scream. It also helps me feel broken.

Just know you are not alone at all in this; I avoid grocery stores, anyplace where there's just too much activity for my senses to focus on. Though when I'm able to I do make myself go to some busy places, the hypersensitivity to stimuli seems to have no solution,

I'm here if you want to talk/vent.

Oh I hear you on that one! Every time someone even so much as walks past me at a walmart, I want to jump out of my skin and I am ready for a fight.
I am always sure that everyone there is mad at me or ready to fight me, or push me out of their way or wanting to bully me--I HATE IT!!!
I feel that people are glaring at me and/or thinking I'm some sort of freak or obsessing over my belly fat. I get jumpy and irritable and startle easy, then I start zoning out and forget what I'm doing.
It happens at other places too--but there is something about Walmart.................

I hate shopping at any place, walmart is called asda here in the uk and I so hate shopping there it is so packed every time I go I get so much anxiety when shopping.

I understand you all

Yes. I am paranoid ppl are critiquing what I'm wearing, my size, staring because I'm wearing sunglasses at night, inside a store. I can't even push a shopping cart...not because it's too heavy, but somehow, coupled with my anxiety, it wears me out. Which sucks cause it'd be nice to lean on it physically. I can't even be in the parking lot without panic/overstimulation. Sometimes I'm with someone when they get gas, they head to Walmart's gas station and I'm like "*****!", because that area is even worse....ppl seriously do not know how to drive there. I try to shut my eyes, which actually helps...much of my issue is visual over-stimulation. But I kind of tense my muscles because I'm just waiting for our car to get hit by some dumbass.

Agreed, it does happen other places, but Walmart is especially worse. Oddly, I'm more comfortable in tiny places like CVS/Walgreens, etc. I think because they're rarely busy.

It is frustrating to be in a crowded place trying to shop around those who seem to be just meandering around aimlessly.

To help your anxiety the next time, you could make a game out of it. Before you go in, guess how many irritating people you will come across, then keep count with a smile "There's one...." and even take a pen & paper to mark each one. Make it fun, because you can't change what it is.

Another thing I used to do was to imagine that the person who is in my way, etc. is someone who is troubled, or has just suffered a loss, and is finding it hard to be aware of what's around them, yet they need to be there to get what they need. I also imagine they feel alone and lost and wish they didn't have to be there. That helps me find compassion and kindness and I always feel better in that frame of mind.





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I always thought I was alone feeling the way I do going into walmart or other places with lot's of people but especially walmart. I usually break out in cold sweats or get a nervous stomach and have to run to the bathroom for some reason the minute I get there. I also need a crutch in crowds like a family member or push a cart or both.

Ditto basically all of this. I always wondered too if I was the only one so bothered by these kinds of places,

omg. same. also, thought i was the only one.

wal-mart is by far the worst. target sometimes too. and shopping malls. i feel like i'm going to fall over or pass out or trip when i'm at a mall walking alone.

God I'm so glad this thread was started..... no one I know (like in person) ever feels this way about big places. it's contributed to feeling even more "damaged". I am so grateful other people understand !!

Haha, me and my sensible post. Today I needed to go and the place drove me nuts. It was like everyone ahead of me throughout the entire store was lost and trying to figure out which way to go.... I was glad to get what I needed and good thing I had a list to keep me focused.





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I have had many panic attacks at Walmart. It is a very difficult place for me to shop.
Lots of things cause me to panic there. Like... standing in line, and freaking out because I am worried I may not be able to afford my things, so I open my wallet and count my money like 5 times just to make sure I can afford it. I still end up freaking out. Having people behind me in line too is totally stressful.. that sounds so weird to say.

Sometimes when I am grocery shopping there and I need a specific item, like Brown Sugar. So I head to that isle, but there are people in front of the item I need. I will like stand at the opposite end of the isle and hope that they leave so I can go in there and pick out my item. But they take forever and I am too scared to just grab my item and get out. I wait and wait and wait, other people go in front of the item and I am like totally freaking out because I can't get my Brown Sugar. So I start panicking and getting pissed at the same time, I end up exploding and just run out of the store. Without my Brown Sugar.

Luckily my Walmart is a 24/7 one and I can go there at like 3am and not have to deal with many people.

There have been many times that I have just left because I couldn't get what I wanted because of other people being there in the way. I prefer to shop long after midnight with hardly anyone there.

I hate most crowded-shopping situations, but I avoid Walmart.
Although small resale/vintage stores are nice, they usually have a relaxed environment and there's only ever 2 or 3 other people in the store at the time and they usually seem pretty nice. I do a lot of my shopping (like for clothes and anything not-food) online.

Same. I've paid a lot in shipping costs, but it's worth my mental stability.