YES...

wow. yes.

Chalk, nail files, scratchy pencils, dried mud and microfiber cloth - and suede... all freak me out completely. literally skin-crawling.

Lots of people, or small groups but all strangers also send me into a panic. I once walked into a christmas party expecting maybe a couple hundred people (was an office, end of year thing), but ended up being a couple thousand as they combined head-office with a local branch. I very nearly fainted.

also always want to sit facing the door.

have to say I think my coping mechanism has been to shut everything out. If I've been in a new situation with a whole lot of new people I usually can't remember much of anything afterwards - names, faces, what happened. It feels like everything is on fast forward and I just have maybe a few-second imprint of the whole thing.

this really makes me wonder.

for me deep yoga breathing helps in public with lots of people. I try to shop really early as the crowds seem to hit the local stores mid-morning through into late afternoon.

I also usually end up humming something to myself or listening to music if I remembered headphones. That helps a lot. (while shopping).

Re restaurants I feel better in small, out of the way places that are usually quieter than those in the main hustle areas.