24-hr supermarkets are brilliant

If you're struggling to go to the Supermarket because of Agoraphobia (presuming you get that far!), then something I found useful, and still do from time to time, is going in the very small hours - between 2 and 4am.

The problem with Supermarkets is all the noise, the thousands of voices, the clinking of bottles, the running around of small children all bombard your senses and potentially call for your attention. Us with Agoraphobia have a very poor filtering mechanism (or a very good one depending on how you view it) and many of these signals and messages get into the bits of the brain that call for actions and responses.

Going in the dead of night there are far fewer noises, far fewer people and you can cope easily in a place where you otherwise may not. It'll also help if you do it regularly, to desensitise yourself against the other stimuli - the flickery lights, the hanging and swinging banners, the beeping of tills and things.

Give it a try if you haven't. It makes quite a difference.

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Originally Posted by Ryker

If you're struggling to go to the Supermarket because of Agoraphobia (presuming you get that far!), then something I found useful, and still do from time to time, is going in the very small hours - between 2 and 4am.

The problem with Supermarkets is all the noise, the thousands of voices, the clinking of bottles, the running around of small children all bombard your senses and potentially call for your attention. Us with Agoraphobia have a very poor filtering mechanism (or a very good one depending on how you view it) and many of these signals and messages get into the bits of the brain that call for actions and responses.

Going in the dead of night there are far fewer noises, far fewer people and you can cope easily in a place where you otherwise may not. It'll also help if you do it regularly, to desensitise yourself against the other stimuli - the flickery lights, the hanging and swinging banners, the beeping of tills and things.

Give it a try if you haven't. It makes quite a difference.

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Sure is a great idea for those who is never go to the supermarket, but the danger is for those who do go during the day and may see this as a safety behaviour meaning they give up their daytime visit and never go back to at as it's too stressful.

I think start doing in small hours and gradually go earlier and earlier in evening as it get busier. That will help with graded exposure.

Thatz easy for men to say. Women have to tread on eggshells at that hour of the morning if they dare go out that early in the wee morning w/o a companion or a service dog.