# College students, do you frequently skip class because of SA?



## lisac1919 (Jul 20, 2013)

I find myself (on some days when my SA is really bad) skipping class a lot. But its not as if I just lay in bed and say '**** it'. No, I get completely ready (shower and all), drive all the way there (a 30 min. drive) and just sit in the parking lot debating whether or not I have the guts to walk in. It happens over and over. Ill drive around the parking lot and just sit in my car looking at the classroom im supposed to be in. Or ill get out and go to like 3 bathrooms, pretending to piss, trying to decide if I have the courage to go. Its gotten so bad that sometimes I have to drink (alcohol) before I walk in. And the more I wait and wonder around or sit in my car, the later I am and the more embarrassing it becomes to walk in...some days ill just turn around and go straight back home and others I wait there for an hour, thinking of excuses when deep down I already know my mind has been made up to not go.

I somehow convince myself to go to class but then chicken out at the last second...and its really affecting my grades. Anyone else do the same?


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## boas (Jun 9, 2013)

I did that once. I was late by a few minutes and didn't feel like walking into a big lecture hall with everyone watching me and (likely) receiving some sarcastic remark from the teacher.

Have you tried turning up 5-10 minutes early so you can get in the room before anyone else? That could at least make the act of walking into class a bit easier. From there, you might be able to better convince yourself it will be okay.


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## Justlittleme (Oct 21, 2013)

yeah I do.


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## Melvin1 (Jul 12, 2013)

Yeah i skipped 2 days this week,been only on monday and tuesday.


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## lisac1919 (Jul 20, 2013)

boas said:


> I did that once. I was late by a few minutes and didn't feel like walking into a big lecture hall with everyone watching me and (likely) receiving some sarcastic remark from the teacher.
> 
> Have you tried turning up 5-10 minutes early so you can get in the room before anyone else? That could at least make the act of walking into class a bit easier. From there, you might be able to better convince yourself it will be okay.


Yeah arriving early alleviates my anxiety but im one of those people that is chronically late. Even if I wake up like 4 hours before class, amazingly, ill end up at least 15 minutes late...its like I have a talent for it or something...


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## Aminah (Jan 24, 2013)

Oh yes


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## wayfreshnclean (Sep 21, 2013)

Yeah man. I skipped this entire week and part of it was because I ran into someone I knew in high school the week before. 

It's a snowball effect. The more you skip and avoid the problem, it only gets worse and worse.


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## lisac1919 (Jul 20, 2013)

wayfreshnclean said:


> Yeah man. I skipped this entire week and part of it was because I ran into someone I knew in high school the week before.
> 
> It's a snowball effect. The more you skip and avoid the problem, it only gets worse and worse.


I don't know if you said 'man' because you think im a man but id just like to point out that im female lol...not that that has anything to do with this conversation...I guess my profile pic confuses people.

But yeah i agree...eventually i get all anxious wondering what the teachers think of me and having to come up with excuses is embarrassing too. It just gets worse and worse...

One time i missed a whole day of classes because some ****er asking for donations was realllyyy pushy and rude about it. Went home immediately after i escaped because it just took me by surprise to the point where i didn't want to deal with any social situation after that.


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## Nessie91 (Jan 5, 2012)

Last year I did. So far, this year I haven't. Although I don't know how long that will last. 

I use to skip class when I couldn't handle certain subjects or activities. It's an easy habit to get into once you start. I really advise to try and break the habit, when you miss too much class it's hard to catch up. And really you're just feeding into your anxiety by trying to escape certain situations.


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## VinBZ (Nov 2, 2013)

In the second half of first year I started skipping classes, just from a lack motivation from being generally unhappy with my life, which was related to my SA. Now that I have that experience of failure I never skip class anymore. 

The fears you're describing though were a much bigger issue for me in high school, where I felt like I was being forced into social situations much more often.


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## Greenleaf62 (Aug 1, 2013)

I don't skip class because I know that I'll miss something. My professors say that if you miss a day then you'll have to get the notes of whatever from someone else in the class. Even though I have acquaintances in some of my classes, I wouldn't feel comfortable asking to borrow their notes.


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## mcmuffinme (Mar 12, 2010)

I do this, but because of depression instead. I hate going to school. I hate doing anything. It all seems pointless when you feel so alone.


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## blueman1027 (Aug 9, 2013)

Greenleaf62 said:


> I don't skip class because I know that I'll miss something. My professors say that if you miss a day then you'll have to get the notes of whatever from someone else in the class. Even though I have acquaintances in some of my classes, I wouldn't feel comfortable asking to borrow their notes.


^This...and I don't feel much anxiety when it comes to class. Granted, that's probably because I go to a university where 90% of the students are commuters. So, people generally don't socialize a lot. They come in their cars and walk directly to class. After class, they walk directly to their cars and leave.

Let's say they have a class later and can't leave. They will either go to the library and play on Facebook, go eat in the dining hall, or just go sit in their cars (you would not believe how many people do this at my uni).


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## always starting over (Mar 15, 2013)

I ditch class constantly but its more due to laziness than SA. However, I hate BEING in class period because of how stressful it is socially. I freak out when I'm there, but somehow I'm good at forcing myself to do it.


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## Raeden (Feb 8, 2013)

Nah. I feel pretty invisible inside of a giant lecture hall, so it doesn't really bother me. Besides, academics is the only good thing I have going for me.


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## Raynic781 (Feb 8, 2013)

Nope, I don't skip class unless I know we're not doing anything important like watching a movie. And of course I skip if I'm sick, but I wouldn't count that as actually "skipping". But my SA has never really caused me to skip because I'm scared I'm gonna miss something and get behind.


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## kilgoretrout (Jul 20, 2011)

I thought I would because of SA but surprisingly the only reason why I skipped classes was because I had other more important **** to do.


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## blueman1027 (Aug 9, 2013)

kilgoretrout said:


> I thought I would because of SA but surprisingly the only reason why I skipped classes was because I had other more important **** to do.


I wish my classes didn't deduct letter grades for being absent so many times. Some of my classes feel like a complete waste of time when they just explain how to do an online assignment that I already know how to do and could have had done already had I not attended class.


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## Imbored21 (Jun 18, 2012)

No because I'm too anxious to ask someone for their notes on the day i missed!


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## 0180917 (Jun 2, 2013)

Two weeks ago I went through an emotional mini-crisis because of my SA and just decided to not go to classes that day. It was either some profound enlightened state or a "IDGAF" attitude that I was in, but I just skipped everything.

Then last week I actually got sick and had to miss several classes, but even after I was feeling better, I didn't go. I just recently realized I have BDD but I always thought my symptoms were just normal social anxiety symptoms. I've always been paranoid about how I look and spent time in front of the mirror micromanaging every detail of my appearance, but since I started college 2 months ago, this has gone to the extreme. Several nights have gone by where I've missed getting to the cafeteria to get dinner before they closed because I spent *hours* standing in front of the mirror trying to comb my hair so that it looked perfect (in my eyes it always looks terrible). That, combined with me frequently looking out the window of my dorm to see huge crowds of people going to and coming back from the cafeteria, made me so anxious that I ended up waiting too long and not getting anything to eat. This happened again the past 2 days but with my classes.

If this seems ridiculous to you, just know that I can't explain it rationally the same way SA can't be explained to people without it. I really always thought that everybody with SA was as self-conscious as me, but I guess not, and now my GPA is suffering because of it.


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## guitarmatt (Aug 13, 2009)

lisac1919 said:


> I find myself (on some days when my SA is really bad) skipping class a lot. But its not as if I just lay in bed and say '**** it'. No, I get completely ready (shower and all), drive all the way there (a 30 min. drive) and just sit in the parking lot debating whether or not I have the guts to walk in. It happens over and over. Ill drive around the parking lot and just sit in my car looking at the classroom im supposed to be in. Or ill get out and go to like 3 bathrooms, pretending to piss, trying to decide if I have the courage to go. Its gotten so bad that sometimes I have to drink (alcohol) before I walk in. And the more I wait and wonder around or sit in my car, the later I am and the more embarrassing it becomes to walk in...some days ill just turn around and go straight back home and others I wait there for an hour, thinking of excuses when deep down I already know my mind has been made up to not go.
> 
> I somehow convince myself to go to class but then chicken out at the last second...and its really affecting my grades. Anyone else do the same?


Hell yeah, I could have written that word for word. That's been me for my first year and a half of community college. Going to class four days a week, my only responsibility, was ridiculously hard and I wouldn't be able to make it often. After all that time though, I got fed up with being behind, not being able to ask classmates for notes, and in general feeling really ****ty. So now I'm trying to attend more regularly.


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## northroad (May 10, 2013)

Lol I would do the same thing OP. Get up, get dressed, drive there and then sit and try to decide. Sometimes I would even walk into campus and just walk right by the classroom door... Pathetic. Only really hit me on days when there was group work or something that was going to make me interact.


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## JohnWalnut (May 2, 2012)

I have a few times, yeah. I also skipped some classes I was late for and didn't want to embarrass myself by going in late.


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## LiveintheLight (Nov 9, 2013)

I feel ya on this one! it is horrible...the "Get out, Danger" Mode your body goes in. I get that way even in the store. i am doing trial and error with my doc on medications right now but if it gets really bad and I HAVE to go in the grocery store..because i have a son and i really have no choice but to face people.. I will take vicodin ...does wonders for my anxiety...oh and alcohol too


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## just smile (Nov 2, 2013)

yes sadly u_u it's wats been ruining my life atm ;-;


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## rabbitheartgirl (Nov 11, 2013)

I'm horrible with this, although it's not always with class.

I go to a really strict university and most classes only allow three skips per semester (although I've faked 'family emergency' before to get out of more than three classes), so I can't actually skip class a lot. But I had a similar issue recently when I was told I had to meet with my adviser before registering for classes next semester. It took me three and a half weeks of leaving my apartment and coming right back, even once making it to the floor of my adviser's office before seeing him and getting scared and going back.


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## AceEmoKid (Apr 27, 2012)

SA and depression. I missed 5 classes last week while I just laid in bed and did absolutely nothing, maybe fell asleep. I've been having such weird sleeping patterns, too. I've been late on a lot of assignments and screwed over for quizzes and tests and I didn't hear about as a result of my absences. A couple times I was running only a couple minutes late, but was so nervous to walk into the classroom late and even perhaps be reprimanded/publicly humiliated by the teacher that I just skipped the class altogether (I do this for nearly any event I will be a little tardy for). 

I need to get over myself and just attend class though. I need to stop thinking and just go, even if my mental state suffers. I need to numb my feelings and thoughts. I am nearly failing my sociology class because of some absences in which I missed in class assignments, and because I have 0 points of participation (which counts as 15% of the overall grade, what the hell?).


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## masterridley (Jan 20, 2007)

I skip and then I have to study twice as hard as other people...
so even if I didn't have SA it would be impossible for me to socialize, not enough time.

The problem is that even if I attend, I can't concentrate on what's being said
due to anxiety and I feel like I'm literally losing my time. Lose-lose.


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## T Studdly (Jul 20, 2013)

I do too. I use to never skip but now my grades are going down.
I'm just so anxious about this one professor i'd rather stay away from him.


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## Stephanos (Jul 9, 2013)

I used to do that until it took a hard toll on my grades. Ignore the people around you, but don't let your grades suffer because of other people. Stay quiet long enough and they won't notice you anymore, making the whole process much easier hah.


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