Do you feel safe outside?

[King_Oni]

Something I was wondering and it might fit in with social anxiety because I think some things are actual causes for social anxiety.

About 2 years ago I was involved in a mugging after going out and while I came out on top (and with my belongings... and clearly better shape than the robber) I have become a bit more weary about people around me if I go out at night. And I rarely go out during the day, so that kinda adds up to the odds of encountering people at night.

The question about safety and incident induced social anxiety arose earlier today while thinking if I should go out to a club tonight... and that club is located in that city where said incident happened. There's certain demons I'm willing to face on my own, and this is one of them.

But I'm wondering; do you feel safe if you go out (and I'm not talking to a club, but just in general, going out the door to wherever)? If not, why not? How do you manage with that? Since I assume at some point you need to get out for groceries (and might not be able to rely on others all the time)

I do want to state that I can easily see this thread devolve into an argument about guncontrol (some of us are in fact from countries with strict guncontrol laws) . That is not the issue here... just a friendly reminder.

 

[NeverEnder]

I do not feel safe outside. I have my groceries delivered so I rarely do go out and get involved socially.

 

[Aalo]

To be honest I don't have a god mind, so feeling safe or unsafe won't really alter the course of reality happening. That is also a reason why try not to be that concerned about the whole idea, or else I could be afraid of everything. I have tremendous social anxiety, but it's mostly about interactions.
The fact that I don't much go to town during dark and have never really faced dangers might be a reason for me to feel lusty outside. But even that I don't leave bars late at night alone, doesn't mean I'd not be apt. I walk dogs or come late from friend by bus or bike a lot. I just try to select my routes well and be alert as it's all I can in those situations do. Thinking about it I've been really careless too many times, also in foreign lands where I haven't known even local language well. Maybe I should have been robbed few times to learn some manners and prudence.

 

[Kuribo]

I don't feel safe outside in my local area because I live in an area populated by feeble-minded scumbags who, quite literally, exist to make life hell for pleasant, hard-working people. Windows and bus shelters being smashed and other random acts of vandalism are regular occurrences around here, and many teenagers who don't even know me occasionally harass me for no reason whatsoever. I have no idea if it's because I have the ability to form an understandable sentence, because I don't enjoy destroying people's lives ... I haven't a clue. This doesn't exactly help to boost my confidence.

 

[anne.bc]

Oddly enough, I feel safe. I don't know why, since I live in Fresno, and I head emergency sirens at least 5-7 times a day, even near my neighborhood. I guess it's because I'm used to this place? :unsure:

It's certain areas of town that give me the creeps though. Yuck!

 

[gailt915]

I have felt safe outside in many of the towns/cities I've lived in........however, the town I live in now is very unsafe to me. I don't feel safe during the day, outside. At night, I don't even feel safe inside. I only go out if I HAVE to.....to the store, pharmacy, etc. Then, I try to go during "non-busy" hours. This town has a very high crime rate, as well as a very high unemployment rate, so most people are very unhappy and angry. I try to avoid the public as much as possible!!!

 

[Flinty]

There's a complicated formula that decides things for me. If it's thirty below outside, I feel much safer than if it's thirty above (C). It's safer at 9 AM than it is at 2 PM, which in turn is safer than midnight. Neighbourhood, of course, matters. It's safer on Tuesday than it is on Friday or Saturday. Welfare day is the least safe of all. Oddly, it's usually safer in my back lane than it is in front of my building.

How do I manage? Stay in whenever plausible. :smug:

 

[Loomis]

I have felt safe outside in many of the towns/cities I've lived in........however, the town I live in now is very unsafe to me. I don't feel safe during the day, outside. At night, I don't even feel safe inside. I only go out if I HAVE to.....to the store, pharmacy, etc. Then, I try to go during "non-busy" hours. This town has a very high crime rate, as well as a very high unemployment rate, so most people are very unhappy and angry. I try to avoid the public as much as possible!!!

I find that curious since I have always considered Wisconsin to be a very safe low crime state much like my home state of Minnesota.

 

[gailt915]

I live in a town south of Milwaukee.......I think many of the other towns/cities in WI are safer........just the location of my town in WI makes it unsafe due to the types of people who have made this their home. I lived in Madison for 7 years, wandered around by myself at all hours and always felt (and was) safe........here may well be the scariest place I have ever lived.

 

[Loomis]

I live in a town south of Milwaukee.......I think many of the other towns/cities in WI are safer........just the location of my town in WI makes it unsafe due to the types of people who have made this their home. I lived in Madison for 7 years, wandered around by myself at all hours and always felt (and was) safe........here may well be the scariest place I have ever lived.

I get what you are saying. Thanks for the explanation. I am not familiar with Milwaukee but it sounds uncomfortable to live there.

 

[_Josh_]

I'll say I don't feel unsafe or truly safe. It's only realistic to accept some level of risk when dealing with the likes of the general public. I grew up in a fairly bad neighborhood and had to deal with the risks that came with that. I guess I got used to it. In my experience, I've learned that people who would prey on others tend to be mostly opportunistic, and can sense when someone is easy prey. I have never been easy prey. I've always been able to handle myself and had to on so many occasions I've lost count. I've never had any bad outcomes in that regard. I've also been really adept at sensing a bad situation due to pattern recognition and would avoid such situations if at all possible. Now that I live in a rural area, I've never felt safer. None of my anxiety stems from feeling unsafe, even when I lived in the inner-city. I do have a strong sense of self preservation though which includes even any injury. This leads me to feeling unsafe and nervous when riding in a car with someone who doesn't seem to focus on the road like they should for instance. That is the situation in which I'm in the most leading to an unsafe feeling.

 

[Firnafth]

I actually feel pretty safe outside in my current area. I am sensitive to neighborhood "quality," though, so I quickly get worried if I sense I'm not in the best part of town. I don't know if my worry is warranted though. My family members have suggested that I project some kind of natural attitude that prevents me from being a target. I don't really know what it is though.

When I feel unsafe when I am out I try to act alert and like know where I'm going and also what's going on around me. I used to do Aikido and we would work on having an attitude and attention that was both focused and encompassed the area all around us. This was key for being able to respond correctly to the actions of an opponent. I try to have that feeling when I feel unsafe and project it into the world, because I think this attitude probably makes me look less like prey as Josh puts it.

 

[Mellotron]

I feel safe outside my local area but not as much on longer trips as I used to. I like to stay local if I can (save for work which is 35 miles away but it feels so routine now). Other than that I feel a little more unsure of longer trips these days. Like today my girlfriend and I were on a drive about 60 miles away and saw the immediate aftermath of a pretty bad car crash. Made us both jittery after that. Its things like that that make me want to stay home or at least local these days.

 

[AGXStarseed]

I'm always a bit weary when I go out in the day. My anxiety increases when the light starts to fade, though, while going out at night is a definite no.
When I used to come home from college after we'd put the clocks back an hour, I'd often come home while it was pitch black and I would hate it - just trying to get home as quickly as I could.

 

[Ste11aeres]

I used to feel unsafe outside. But after several years of using public transit and therefore of walking around in sleazy neighborhoods, I've lost the fear. A state of constant fear renders us unable to detect the rise of spontaneous fear that exists to tell us some particular thing is not right.

So constant fear makes a person less safe. Because if they are always afraid, or always afraid in a certain area, they can't tell when they have a special reason to be afraid.

 

[Pella]

not really, its hard to identify why. I do tend to feel safer in small enclosed spaces, but i don't like feeling trapped, so it still has to be under my control. i have never really been hurt by anyone outside, but i think its just there are too many uncontrollable variables.

 

[Arashi222]

I'm not sure if its the outside I am really afraid of or the unknown that outside represents. I take public transit but panic about it if I haven't taken that paricular bus before. I recite bus information like the back of my hand and will repeat it over and over if asked which buses i take. I fear getting lost. I fear being out with people who might not understand that I am different. I do not mind places I am familiar with but places I don't know I fear because I cannot see well, because there is so much sensory imput. I don't know But yes I guess I do do not feel safe outside.

 

[Neat Hedgehog]

Depends on where I am.

When I used to live in Grand Rapids, no, I didn't feel safe and I carried my bowie knife with me just to go downstairs to the car. There were morons in gangs killing each other just a few blocks over, and occasionally they would stagger over to die in the driveway, or decide to mug people because my apartment complex had no cameras and no security systems.

The town where I work now... well, I'm more familiar with it since I grew up around here, and it's much smaller, but I won't walk around at night without some means of protection. So, I guess in the day it's mostly ok, but not after dark.

Now if you're talking about at home where I live off in the woods, ten miles from any town, and with all the neighbors at least a hundred yards away in all directions, I don't mind going out at all, day or night. It is fun and relaxing.

It always strikes me as a humorous contrast. City people will freak out in the woods over the tiniest little things, but fail to notice half the things that I see when I'm in their city which would seem to me to be far more urgent or worrysome.

 

[rhubarbo]

As with the prior post: It depends where I am.

I had some pretty strong bouts with social phobia in the past but that was always in relation to whether there were lots of people outside or not. It might be the reason I prefer night to day (and perhaps the noise). No matter where I am I feel safer at night (urban or rural).

 

[Sparticus]

No generally speaking...but it depends on my mood. I know self-defense including boxing/other etc. Sometimes I can go out and enjoy myself in nature...watch the birds, the fish swimming etc. Other times I can fake it and act like an NT...but generally speaking there are many times I have difficulty [or want to] going outside. Years ago I was jumped by 3 very large individuals & hospitalized. I made the acquaintaince of a pool stick on my spinal column, back & head.

So I guess it depends on my mood, how much coffee I have drank...and whether or not I shape shift into a more "I have to git out of here" mood At those times I'm either confidently stepping out...or slinking around... I love Agoraphobia! Not...a lot of you brought up a good point. Many times I'll feel safer at Sunset or night. I won't have to talk to as many people.