I was socially isolated until my middle teen years because I was in special education and interacted more with adults than with other students. Therefore I didnt have to deal with peer pressure because I didnt have many peers, and those I did have were in the same situation as I was. In elementary school I had had some friends, but most were younger than me and didn't seem to notice, or care, that I was weird, and the few other friends I had were classmates from the same school and therefore were also weird ... in different ways than I was, but we could still relate to each other.
In high school I entered mainstream education and was bullied a lot, but I wouldnt call that peer pressure either. I had one close friend who had started out as a bully but quickly switched sides when (i think) we both realized that he was only beating up on me to gain popularity and protect himself from being bullied himself, and that it didnt work, since the school bullies saw him as just as pathetic as I was and just laughed at the both of us instead of picking a side in the fight.
I really didnt have to deal with peer pressure at all until adulthood, when I finally realized how bad I was at social skills and that I couldnt change that, so I became very shy, and have been so ever since outside the rare situations such as therapy groups where I am with others who are in delicate situations as well. Right now this type of therapy group accounts for almost all of my in-person socialization and although I hope to make friends eventually that I can see in outside situations, Im still too shy to have contacted anybody outside the various groups so far.
_________________ Sunàqʷa the Sea Lamprey says:
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