Make leaving early unremarkable
Chronic illness, anxiety and pain all mean sometimes going home. The hard part is having to explain in front of everyone.
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Why it lands
The barrier to attending is often not the event but the exit — knowing that leaving will require a public account of why. So people decline in advance rather than risk it, and hosts conclude they were not interested. Saying at the start that anyone can slip out removes the need for a reason, and it costs the host nothing at all.
How
Say it once to the room at the beginning: “Come and go as suits you, no need to say goodbye.” Then genuinely do not comment when somebody goes, and do not ask about it afterwards.
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