This. Except I’m not limited to authority figures and that’s sometimes very hard to handle. Like if a friend wants to invite me on monday but I already have something planned with another friend that same day I sometimes feel like giving the real reason would make them jealous. Yes, I know I shouldn’t do this, and I’m working on it, but it’s not easy. It’s especially hard when the real reason is something like “spending time with you in particular is very stressful for me and I can’t handle it”.

Not speaking for all of them but sometimes just feeling good about yourself is enough. You can even tell them how you appreciate their efforts (assuming you do)

Reddit wasn’t even always like that: I’d say it progressively went downhill during the last decade. Design choices were progressively made to tailor the most toxic users.