People share their lamest excuses for cancelling on friends at the last minute

People are sharing the ‘most ridiculous reasons why they’ve canceled on friends’ as the JOMO trend, aka the fun of missing out, continues to grow.

Growing since the end of the Covid lockdown, the trend sees people canceling last minute plans in favor of ‘doing nothing’.

Online, people have admitted to canceling “because they have dandruff,” to “watch their plants,” or hang out with their pets.

Crappy to Happy founder and psychologist Cass Dunn describes JOMO as ‘purely enjoying what you’re doing in every moment without worrying about what everyone else is doing’.

Essentially the opposite of FOMO, the fear of missing out.

“There’s really no better feeling than sending that life-changing text to cancel plans so you can sit on the couch instead,” she told FEMAIL.

Popular activities include watching TV on the couch or cuddling with an ice cream.

And it’s not just old people who are ditching their well-thought-out plans to stay indoors, research from ice cream company Ben and Jerry’s even suggests Gen Z is leading the trend.

34 percent of the younger generation admitted to canceling by telling their friends they forgot or were double booked.

While Gen X “feels the most relieved” when they cancel, the stats show.

“Three in four Australians say they have used an excuse, truth or lie, to cancel plans when they would rather stay inside than leave.”

While half of all Australians admit they feel a surge of excitement after deciding to stay home.

Psychologist Cass Dunn says we often agree on plans without taking the time to think about how we will feel that day

dr. Dunn says this is because we often make plans for the future because it “feels good right now” and don’t think hard about how we might feel in the day.

“We often commit to things in the future, assuming that this future self of ours will be energetic, motivated and sociable after a long week,” she said.

“Eventually, those decisions catch up with us and we’re faced with the reality that we’ve agreed to do something we’d rather not do.”

This leads to inner turmoil as we are faced with two options: going out when we don’t want to or abandoning someone we care about, she explained.

“When we have the nerve to send the text message and cancel the plans, we not only experience the immediate relief, but also pure joy,” she said.

‘We are hit by a rush of dopamine in the reward center of our brain and that feels really good.’

dr. Dunn wants people to feel good about opting out of plans if they decide they don’t want to go through with them and says there should be no need to come up with an excuse to pretend they aren’t feeling well .

“Getting ourselves off the hook can be a great act of self-care and we shouldn’t feel guilty about prioritizing our own need for some time off,” she said.

‘We are hit by a rush of dopamine in the reward center of our brain and that feels really good.’

Before she cancels, Dr. Dunn likes to remind herself of the relief she feels when others cancel her.

“Sometimes the only thing more fun than canceling plans is for the other person to cancel,” she said.

“So if I do the cancellation, I like to think my friend might be just as relieved to get my text as he was to send it.”

Calling Ben and Jerry’s for the best excuses people have come up with for berating their friends.

They reward the winner with a Koala couch and a year’s supply of ice cream to help them make the most of their time anti-scoial at home.

Flakey friends have until September 30 to enter the competition.