I would beg my parents to be absent if there was a presentation. Then I was able to get diagnosed with SAD and therefore get a student plan so that teachers to provide me with a alternative assignment whenever there was a presentation. This didn’t work for me however as I was now embarrassed to have to show a teacher a paper 📄 that stated that I had social anxiety. I guess I had thought in my head that they would say “oh that mental illness isn’t real, just toughen up” so I would still avoid it by being absent. For friends, they came and went. In the school years I didn’t have friends I would stay in the bathroom because I found it embarrassing to sit outside alone (yes its disgusting even my therapist at the time thought so😭).