h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Crowds. I hate crowds. Crowded shops, rooms, buses, anywhere. You can't move around and everywhere you look there's a person and there's no way out...stop it, Changeling, you're alright...And there you have a perfect example of how I tend to deal with it. I remind myself I'm being irrational, take a tight grip on myself and try not to panic.

I suspect that a large part of this phobia is due to being very badly bullied at school. I spent four years surrounded by hostile crowds, and now I consider all crowds to be dangerous.

I'm not sure why I have a fear of crowds, I just know that I do. Crowds make me feel VERY uncomfortable. They make me feel totally out of control and vulnerable. My head clouds and all I can think is, 'Get out, get out, must get out...'

Usually I deal with the situation by moving to the very edge of the crowd as quickly as possible, if I can't remove myself completely from the situation. I also try to make myself as small as possible so there's less chances of people touching me. If I'm with someone, I tend to grab onto either their hand, arm, or their clothing, as we're walking through the crowd...

If I'm exposed to a crowded situation too long, I begin to find it hard to breath, and have almost completely shut down before. I've got a better handle on it now than I did I few years ago, so it never gets this bad anymore.

Hmm, when I'm in a crowd I hate being touched even by people I trust. I get the same inability to think, though. I wonder why I react to it differently?