What was your most atrocious way. . . .

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. . . of ducking out of a forced social interaction, experience or event?

I was forced to interact in my home on a day where I just was not having it. I tried but I just could not bring myself to sustain the interaction. It was two NT couples and I just couldn't anymore, so I locked myself in my room mid-way through the ordeal. Someone else entertained the unwelcome guests until they left.

I have locked myself away in my room on many occasions when guests/family members have visited. Oddly, I have sequestered myself much more as an adult than when I was a teenager. Maybe it's not odd at all as I have always felt like somewhat of a charlatan as an adult. A child wearing an adult's flesh.

Once on a vacation, we were having people over that I didn't know. I didn't want to interact with them, so I holed up in my room until they left. I feel a little embarrassed about that; I can't imagine what they must have thought.

I don't consider any of them to be atrocious, but in order to get out of a forced social interaction I've feigned illness (pretending to have a throat infection works wonders when you simply don't want to talk to anyone), feigned tiredness, and have 'received' fake emergency calls that require me to leave immediately.

While those are intentional ways on my behalf to avoid/get out of forced interaction, I find being myself and not caring for any sort of validation from others means I either say or do something that brings a conversation to a halt anyway.

An example would be a wedding I attended recently where a couple of guys asked me if I wanted a drink. Looking down at the glass I was holding and baffled as to why someone would think I wanted a drink when I was clearly already holding one, I politely but bluntly replied 'er no thanks, I already have one' and walked off. End of forced convo with complete stranger.

I missed social situations before cuz I had panic attacks that gave me bad diarrhea. I take Buspar nowadays for my anxiety & it stops me from having those panic attacks.

I retreat to my "Man Cave", where I have my ham radio station, a beer cooler, my books, and ONE comfy chair. Even though I leave the door open, and any guests are welcome to come in, it soon becomes obvious to them that I have no accommodations for visitors. Sooner or later, they get the hint and leave.

Usually I just wander off. Once I wandered off from a bachelorette party which was on a crowded boat with male strippers. What a nightmare, I sat out on the deck by myself until the boat docked then I just went home without saying goodbye or anything. This was in the days before mobile phones and apparently everybody spent a lot of time looking for me, thinking I'd maybe fallen off the boat and drowned. I was not very popular after that.

I CANT SAY

I just used to drink enough alcohol and smoke cigarettes to kind of numb me out. This lead of course to doing stupid things, being seen as anti social or socially awkward. Now I'm learning more to select social situations more carefully and just listen to myself and how I feel and learn when to excuse myself or leave without feeling bad as perversely whilst I'd often feel tense and uncomfortable at a gathering, I'd also feel even more uncomfortable about leaving before others as it put the spotlight on me... I had a NT Japanese friend and they apparently are very good and just standing up and saying they had fun and are off now. She said she just had a feeling when 'time was up' based on her and the social mood etc and it was just natural. So I realised I could leave and that could still catch up with the others later at another time and date and still be friends etc even if I missed some things...

Oddly, I can't recall any of these situations, except walking out of a high school science class where we had to get into groups, pretending I had to go study for a test for another class in the library. Once when I was afraid to ask how to use the video camera in photography class I also skipped class, using the excuse that I had to finish an assignment for another class but the library was closed so I just sat on the bathroom floor and did it.

I've feigned everything from serious illness to unavoidable appointments to bail out of having to be social in the past. The expected stress and the shame I feel for always being the odd one out in a conversation makes it very tempting to avoid completely. Even now I have very little energy for the exhausting toil of maintaining that accursed polite, interested expression and making sure I provide the right responses at the right time.

It was a party, where my mom introduced me to a friend.

I walked out on them in mid sentence.
Ditched the place without a word, ignored several protests, and literally walked kilometers home. Of course, my mom was furious.

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Once, my sister's mean and obnoxious friend came for a sleepover and I did not leave my bedroom for 12 hours. I played music and YouTube videos on my headphones the whole time so I didn't have to listen to them. I was actually glad when my sister ended things with her. She was trouble anyways.

When I was in middle school, I would run to the bathrooms during free periods and not come out for the entire 40 minutes. I brought a book. It was gross, but I put up with that because it seemed less objectionable than having to deal with people.

I regret to say that, one time, I retreated into another room when we had guests over. They were doing a bunch of obnoxious stuff I didn't want to participate in. It's embarrassing to admit that. I never did that again, even though that particular group of people was really annoying to me.

Today, I am the exact opposite. I don't want to miss any opportunities for interaction, even if anticipating it beforehand makes me so nervous I get physically ill. I know I would feel much worse if I didn't attend a meeting or social event. Fortunately, when I get there, I feel good.

You name it. Just sit there and ignore them. Curl up into a ball on the floor. Walk out on them. Hide in my room. Whatever.