I always figured only relatives did that to me. Friends and people I hang out with don't have to (though one of my best friends from high school did only seem to call me so I could drive she and her friends places, I could borrow a car and she couldn't, but I saw through that without any problem).

Have you ever thought to work on your self esteem by just assuming people invite you because they "like" you? Say something like, "thanks for thinking of me, I had a good time" when you split from whoever invited you? Just looking interested and listening can go a long way, you don't have to be the life of a group. I know it took me a long time to realize that how I looked/my face, whether I was smiling and appearing interested, etc. could make a difference in people approaching/wanting me.

If people invite me more than once, I just assume they "want" me there, even the relatives who are feeling they "have" to. I figure you can't make me do something I really don't want to so others are at least like me there. If I didn't like someone, if they were a drag, I wouldn't invite them to something voluntarily, something I did not have to (family) just because I felt sorry for them -- all the people I like would be there, why invite someone I don't? I have been around people who have invited people around me but not me to things in my presence? If I am going to feel unwanted, I try to at least also appreciate the "kindness" of someone inviting me because they don't want me to feel left out (unwanted). There's two sides of their motive/personality? They do not want me to feel unwanted/they want (invite) me. It would be unkind of me not to reciprocate and feel wanted/invited Being invited is being invited, who cares about what I think the other person's motive was, which is just a guess on my part, not something I can know without asking them? In other words, it's all in my head