I’m in my last year as a college student, and have struggled with this for the last several years but for some reason it’s gotten a lot worse recently. I don’t have a problem working with other people or giving presentations at all, but only if the groups are preassigned by the instructor.

Yesterday one of my professors told us all to get into teams, and immediately everyone in the class got together with their buddies. I don’t have friends or know anyone else in this class that well. I’m a little older than most of the students and feel really self-conscious about it, as there’s clearly a generational gap when I try to socialize. I was absolutely paralyzed with fear from going up to any of the groups and asking if I could join up with them, and ended up leaving early. I know I’ll have to email the professor and explain, but I don’t know what to say.

I’m under a lot of stress and haven’t been able to keep a therapist for longer than a few weeks because they keep switching me to different counselors or cancelling my appointments at school. My insurance sucks and I can’t afford a therapist outside of school because of it. I tried to get into a social anxiety group but it didn’t work out with my class schedule, so I was really upset about this. I don’t know what to do. This is a key class for my major and I really love the material, so I don’t know what to do right now or what to tell my professor.