Weird atmosphere in shopping centres (malls)

[nuyorican]

Wasn’t sure where to put this so will have to dump it here, apologies mods.

So what is it with large shopping centres, or ‘malls’ for our American friends. I’m talking large like Trafford Centre/Meadowhall etc.

I’m not sure if it’s just me but whenever I visit one I begin to feel weird. Like I’ve had an enormous amount of caffeine. I begin to sweat buckets, dry mouth, brain feels like it’s swimming… is it the lights, something to do with the AC?

I’m guessing it must be just me otherwise how would people work there all week? Get used to it perhaps.

I don’t often go to such places to be honest, but it’s incredibly annoying when I do because I can’t think straight to make a decision about the purchase I wanted to make and generally come away empty handed.

Just been in now to try on some winter clothes. Empty handed and feel really weird. It’s not anxiety, it doesn’t happen anywhere else, normal shops/bars/restaurants etc.

Anyone work in such a place and can explain?

[greygoose]

Probably just flashbacks to Dawn of the Dead.

[POIDH]

Odd artificial lighting.
Likely higher co2 levels.
Air conditioning.
Lots of plastic and off-gassing from new products.
Huge amounts of noise.
Surround by the great unwashed.

Yeah, I feel crappy from that.

[GliderRider]

I get much the same whenever I go to Waterloo Station. Perhaps you have some autistic tendencies and you just find the whole thing a case of sensory overload?

[Dog Star]

I don’t like the Trafford Centre - or Manchester Centre - simply because of the sort of people that are in it - blokes in skinny jeans and no socks with stupid beard and his orange big lipped wife in their Range Rover/Audi etc parked outside. It feels “edgy” and I don’t like it at all. I’d much rather be in some northern ex-mill town centre with “normal” people tbh; I’m not so on edge.

[vixen1700]

I go to Westfield in Stratford quite often these days and generally enjoy it, but I avoid Saturdays. Hated it to begin with.

Went to Battersea Power Station mall a few weeks back and it felt hidiously bleak and dystopian for some weird reason despite being quite modern and new. Maybe the overall uniformity and blandness made it feel that way

[rallye101]

nuyorican said:

Wasn’t sure where to put this so will have to dump it here, apologies mods.

So what is it with large shopping centres, or ‘malls’ for our American friends. I’m talking large like Trafford Centre/Meadowhall etc.

I’m not sure if it’s just me but whenever I visit one I begin to feel weird. Like I’ve had an enormous amount of caffeine. I begin to sweat buckets, dry mouth, brain feels like it’s swimming… is it the lights, something to do with the AC?

I’m guessing it must be just me otherwise how would people work there all week? Get used to it perhaps.

I don’t often go to such places to be honest, but it’s incredibly annoying when I do because I can’t think straight to make a decision about the purchase I wanted to make and generally come away empty handed.

Just been in now to try on some winter clothes. Empty handed and feel really weird. It’s not anxiety, it doesn’t happen anywhere else, normal shops/bars/restaurants etc.

Anyone work in such a place and can explain?

You're a man, this is perfectly normal....thank god for Amazon huh!

[Mr Magooagain]

nuyorican said:

Wasn’t sure where to put this so will have to dump it here, apologies mods.

So what is it with large shopping centres, or ‘malls’ for our American friends. I’m talking large like Trafford Centre/Meadowhall etc.

I’m not sure if it’s just me but whenever I visit one I begin to feel weird. Like I’ve had an enormous amount of caffeine. I begin to sweat buckets, dry mouth, brain feels like it’s swimming… is it the lights, something to do with the AC?

I’m guessing it must be just me otherwise how would people work there all week? Get used to it perhaps.

I don’t often go to such places to be honest, but it’s incredibly annoying when I do because I can’t think straight to make a decision about the purchase I wanted to make and generally come away empty handed.

Just been in now to try on some winter clothes. Empty handed and feel really weird. It’s not anxiety, it doesn’t happen anywhere else, normal shops/bars/restaurants etc.

Anyone work in such a place and can explain?

A very similar experience for me also.
I rarely go to a shop apart from diy stores. Last year I went into a Decathlon store and really struggled to buy a pair of walking boots. The last straw was when an assistant asked me to use the self checkout! No mate I’m only just holding it together here.

[trickywoo]

rallye101 said:

You're a man, this is perfectly normal....thank god for Amazon huh!

Boils down to this. In evolutionary terms women do gathering which is equivalent to browsing a shopping centre and men hunt which is equivalent to sports.

You can train yourself to cope with it to some extent but it will never be pleasant.

[Louis Balfour]

nuyorican said:

Wasn’t sure where to put this so will have to dump it here, apologies mods.

So what is it with large shopping centres, or ‘malls’ for our American friends. I’m talking large like Trafford Centre/Meadowhall etc.

I’m not sure if it’s just me but whenever I visit one I begin to feel weird. Like I’ve had an enormous amount of caffeine. I begin to sweat buckets, dry mouth, brain feels like it’s swimming… is it the lights, something to do with the AC?

I’m guessing it must be just me otherwise how would people work there all week? Get used to it perhaps.

I don’t often go to such places to be honest, but it’s incredibly annoying when I do because I can’t think straight to make a decision about the purchase I wanted to make and generally come away empty handed.

Just been in now to try on some winter clothes. Empty handed and feel really weird. It’s not anxiety, it doesn’t happen anywhere else, normal shops/bars/restaurants etc.

Anyone work in such a place and can explain?

Maybe agoraphobia.

[Wacky Racer]

Regarding the Trafford Centre, it's worth going round at least once as a monument to capitalism.

It's actually done quite tastefully (imo), however, there's very little there that you can't buy in Altrincham, Stockport, Hyde, Oldham. Bury, Wigan etc, plus you will pay top dollar for everything, as the shop unit rents are astronomical.

[HTP99]

Isn't this just the general hatred of shopping that many men feel, I cannot stand shopping, looking through racks for the correct size, trying it on, trying a different size on, needing a shirt to make sure the jackets fits ok, I just find it so stressful.

Recently I was in NEXT, one of the big out of town ones, looking for a new suit, I was sweating when trying on different suits and different sizes and cuts, I just hated it, it properly stressed me out.

It is the same in huge supermarkets, I don't mind Aldi or Lidl or even my local large Sainsbury's, however near work there is a ginormous Tesco, absolutely massive, I hate going in there, the size, the lighting, it is busy and loud, I end up just speed walking up and down looking for the correct aisle getting ever more stressed when I cannot find what I'm after when I'm pretty sure they will have it.

[Randy Winkman]

vixen1700 said:

I go to Westfield in Stratford quite often these days and generally enjoy it, but I avoid Saturdays. Hated it to begin with.

Went to Battersea Power Station mall a few weeks back and it felt hidiously bleak and dystopian for some weird reason despite being quite modern and new. Maybe the overall uniformity and blandness made it feel that way

Now Battersea Power Station is a weird place. Fantastic and terrible at the same time. I do wonder what it's future is.

[Rich Boy Spanner]

OP, I get what you mean. The Trafford Centre has a very weird clientele. As alluded to already in posts above, it's full of the white teeth and yellow Selfridge bag crowd, eyeing and sizing each other up. Ignorant too, they generally walk straight at and into you. I will only go there in the evening when it's quiet. In contrast I find the city centre perfectly fine.

[Spare tyre]

Similar feelings here

I think it’s because there is no connection to the outside world

In a house / office you can see / feel where the outside side and how to get to it

In a shopping centre, you can be 5 minutes from a useable exit

[Jamescrs]

My wife had a similar experience within the last 6 months at an IKEA store, she’s never been like that before she said it felt almost like a panic attack, put it down to sensory overload.

Personally I hate indoor shopping centres I find them very claustrophobic. I don’t like shopping generally but I’m much more comfortable in a.city centre.

[Rumblestripe]

Just sounds like anxiety. Stress. I think that one of the things COVID did was make us more aware when we are in an enclosed environment.

I get a similar response to drops. I'm not afraid of heights I've done parachute jumps and flown in a microlight, great fun. But, I cannot go near a drop. Well, I can but... The other year I was in Conwy and tried to walk round the city walls. They aren't terribly high, about ten to eight feet (2-3m) but I found it so unpleasant that I just went straight down the next steps and got off them. I can walk near drops if I have to, it's not as if I'm terrified I just find it unpleasant so I will avoid it.

[AC43]

Rich Boy Spanner said:

OP, I get what you mean. The Trafford Centre has a very weird clientele. As alluded to already in posts above, it's full of the white teeth and yellow Selfridge bag crowd, eyeing and sizing each other up. Ignorant too, they generally walk straight at and into you. I will only go there in the evening when it's quiet. In contrast I find the city centre perfectly fine.

When I occasionally venture into one of these places yes I notice all the orange trout women and the Turkey teeth men but, more that that, there seems to be a large amount of people who (1) seem to have actually dressed up to go out shopping (WTAF?) and (2) who seem to treat it like some sort of extended leisure activity, strolling slowly around, looking at things.

I'm in an out as fast as is humanly possible. Hateful places.

[wyson]

Not as strong as the OP, but I feel weird in Las Vegas casinos and Ikea’s. Like a feeling of disorientation and discombobulation and a low key anxiety like you might never escape.

Can’t say I’ve experienced it in a shopping centre. Quite enjoy Westfields in London.

The strength of the OP’s reaction, sounds like a panic attack. Its exactly what my friend’s dad, who suffered from them described. Maybe see your GP?

Edited by wyson on Monday 21st October 18:26

[wyson]

Randy Winkman said:

Now Battersea Power Station is a weird place. Fantastic and terrible at the same time. I do wonder what it's future is.

Yes, it’s a really bad layout, but premium everything.