[Kate*]

In 8th grade I skipped a TON of school since I hadn't faked sick before then my mom was easily fooled into letting me stay home. That's also when my depression started, but I don't know if I consciously made the connection between the two. I HATED pretty much everything about school, felt horrible, and if I managed to get out of a test, or better, a presentation, and get away with it I was all for it!

Once I got to high school I stopped doing it, still had the anxiety and the depression, but after being legitimately sick I quickly learned that missing even one day put me so far behind it made the mental illnesses worse and it wasn't worth it. They also enforced a 10 day absence limit per year except for extenuating circumstances and there were procedures in place to make sure we didn't skip specific classes and discipline that made it more trouble than it was worth.

Things got better in college for me in terms of schedules and when I skipped classes there, they were only ones I knew wouldn't affect my grade or we got a certain number of classes we could miss so I didn't have to worry about it. I was studying stuff I liked for the most part, so it was easier.

I know how tempting skipping school is, but in the long run it only makes the underlying conditions worse because you fall behind and there's pressure to catch up or later on you might have issues graduating. I will be the last person to ever tell you that mental illness is not a good excuse, but there are limits.

Eventually you have to realize that, without help the conditions won't go away so you can get help, push through and do what you need to do, or make things worse in the long run by allowing them to run your life. I know that sounds harsh, but I'm saying it to prevent you from having serious problems down the road here. An occasional mental health day is fine, but consistently skipping is asking for trouble.