The holiday season shopping phenomenon known as Black Friday is spoken of with both eager anticipation and distain. As someone who lands in the latter category you’re not only not looking forward to it, you’re experiencing a wave of negative emotions, so much so that you’ve come online to ask Google, ChatGBT, or Perplexity (et cetera) for help with Black Friday anxiety and stress.
The initial ai advice received is to avoid shopping centers and malls at all costs. However, you’re either unable to do so (you work in retail) or you would like to enjoy BOGO deals without being overwhelmed by muscle tension, headaches, and irritability among other symptoms associated with anxiety.
Why do you feel the way you do? Is there anything that can be done to make it through the “event” and other days spent navigating the commercial districts of your community this holiday season? Let’s review.
Why You May be Experiencing Feelings of Anxiety and Stress as Black Friday Approaches and What You Can Do to Feel Better
The Anticipatory Anxiety of the Retail Worker
The growth of Black Friday as a socioeconomic phenomenon has led to research on the mental health consequences. Much of this research has been centered around what retail workers go through. In one study, it was reported that 62% of customer service workers are concerned about their mental health while working on Black Friday and the days surrounding it.
Spurred on by past experiences (having worked on Black Friday before), tales from coworkers, and incessant media coverage of Black Friday consumer behavior, many retail workers experience anticipatory anxiety in the weeks and days leading up to the biggest shopping day of the year. The same survey referenced above found that 40% of participants of retail workers reported that they felt customers would treat them worse during Black Friday. Of course, Black Friday consumers as a group do have a history of misbehavior, including verbal abuse and aggression directed at retail employees, but even if negative events don’t unfold, the symptoms of anticipatory anxiety alone are enough to cripple one’s mental wellbeing. Further, it may alter retail staff behavior to be defensive and subsequently confrontational with customers which can cause customers to reciprocate. This is an example of how anticipatory anxiety can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
If you are employed in the retail sector and can tie the anxiety and stress you’re feeling to the anticipation of raucous crowds and poor customer behavior, you will need to reframe your though processes to ensure that you don’t let these negative feelings guide how you interact with customers. Reframing is a technique used to help you view your thoughts, emotions, and situations from a new, more constructive perspective. It involves you identifying and challenging negative or unhelpful thought patterns (that customers will treat you badly) and replace them with more balanced and realistic ones to foster resilience on Black Friday. This process is rooted in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), and it is a powerful tool to manage stress and improve mental wellbeing.
A counselor is available by-phone and online to train you in reframing techniques. Click here or call 1 (877) 426-4258. You can also read this guide for how to deal with anticipatory anxiety. Further, we encourage you to read ahead for advice on Black Friday anxiety management in general, which can also be applied to your situation as someone in customer service (where applicable).
Techniques for Managing Mild Anxiety and Stress on Black Friday
Mild feelings of anxiety and stress are common to nearly everyone who enters the gladiator arena (shopping mall) on Black Friday. The following techniques can be helpful in managing these feelings.
Diaphragmatic Breathing: Prior to leaving for the mall, lie on your back on a flat surface with your knees bent, then place one hand on your upper chest and the other on your stomach, just below your rib cage. Breathe in slowly through your nose, letting the air in deeply, towards your lower belly. The hand on your chest should remain still, while the one on your belly should rise. Tighten your abdominal muscles and let them compress inward as you exhale through pursed lips as the hand on your belly moves down to its original position. If things get too intense in the mall, you can always practice this technique in clean changing room.
Mindful Meditation: Prior to leaving for the mall, find a quiet space, sit comfortably with a straight back, and close your eyes. Focus on your breath, feeling it move in and out of your body without trying to change it. If you’re new to mindful meditation your mind will probably wander. Don’t get upset with yourself over it. Simply recognize the wandering thought without judgment and gently guide your focus back to your breath. You can also practice this technique while at the mall by mindful walking. Mindful walking focuses on your footsteps and sensations as you move through a shopping center while acknowledging distractions as they occur before gently returning your focus. Brief periods (even just 5 minutes) of mindful walking can be very effective.
Underlying Conditions That May be Linked to Black Friday Anxiety and Stress
The fact that you’ve searched for more information on Black Friday stress and anxiety infers that you may experience more than mild negative feelings and emotions. If they overwhelm you, there may be underlying issues involved – those that can be linked to crowds, noises, and visual cues. These may include the following:
- Agoraphobia: This condition involves intense fear or anxiety about situations where escape might be difficult. Black Friday crowds in malls and in transit can most certainly be common triggers.
- Enochlophobia: This is an irrational fear that can cause anxiety, even panic, in large crowds. This phobia can trigger physical symptoms like dizziness, a racing heart, sweating, nausea, and more.
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: People with ADHD may strongly desire to avoid Black Friday crowds because of sensory overload, which is the result of being hypersensitive to stimuli such as loud noises, bright lights, and constant movements that are common to shopping environments.
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: PTSD features a state of constantly being on guard for “danger” which can be triggered by loud noises, large numbers of people, or a feeling of being trapped with no clear escape, all of which are associated with Black Friday shopping environments.
- Social Phobia: Also referred to as social anxiety disorder, it is an intense fear of being scrutinized, humiliated, or judged in social situations. While sufferers may experience it in many aspects of daily life, symptoms (trembling, rapid heart rate, and more) can be elevated during Black Friday shopping.
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: People with OCD may strongly desire to avoid Black Friday crowds to prevent intrusive thoughts and/or to reduce anxiety related to specific fears, such as contamination or harm to others.
- Bipolar Disorder: People with bipolar disorder may strongly desire to avoid Black Friday crowds due to sensory overload and a desire to manage their energy and prevent mood episodes.
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD): Lastly, elevated feelings of anxiety and worry may be attributed to GAD can contribute to a strong desire to avoid crowded shopping environments.
For all of the above, therapeutic intervention is required to help get you train your brain to become comfortable with the environmental stimuli associated with holiday season shopping. A specialized counselor is available by-phone and online at Kindbridge Behavioral Health. Click here or call 1 (877) 426-4258 to join thousands of others who have experienced positive outcomes.
Shopping Disorder Considerations
The word shopaholic gets thrown around TikTok and Instagram with levity. In reality, it may very well be linked to your current anxiety and stress. More appropriately known as shopping disorder, or compulsive buying-shopping disorder (CBSD), it is a condition characterized by excessive preoccupation with or an uncontrollable urge to shop and spend, often beyond one’s means. Financial trouble and interference with daily life top the list of consequences. Recognizing the negative impacts, those who struggle with it attempt to abstain or cut-back on unnecessary spending. Doing so during any day of the year can be challenging enough for someone who has CBSD, but the approach of Black Friday can be severely taxing on mental wellbeing. Of further concern, is that unhealthy shopping behavior may also be used as a coping mechanism for the mental health conditions referenced in the previous section of this article.
While not officially listed as a standalone diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), shopping disorder is recognized in the ICD-11 as an impulse control disorder and shares similarities with behavioral addictions. Understanding this, sufferers must recognize that therapeutic intervention is typically required. Our virtual counseling platform features counselors who are uniquely trained, experienced, and qualified to treat this process addiction. Click here or call 1 (877) 426-4258 to get started.
Whatever fits you (so to speak) from the sections above, we encourage you to take advantage of our helpline in time for Black Friday and the remainder of the holiday season.
Black Friday Anxiety and Stress Helpline
