Breaking the ice is the hard part I find, it's all so hit and miss. Sometimes I get talking to decent people who are honest, friendly and just plain nice - the rest of the time I meet some real nasties who, since they already have their little group of mates, are rude and obnoxious to me

. I guess it's like a sivving process, you need to get rid of all the muck before you find the gold

. Ok, maybe that was a little harsh because I know there are plenty of nice people out there, it's just that the nasty ones seem to stand out more to me - for some reason.
I find that having a mental illness has made socialising much harder because you get asked certain questions about work, girlfriends and if you have your own place etc and that makes me feel awkward and uncomfortable. I found some people to be very accepting yet others seemed to pry a bit more, as to why I don't work full-time - or get paid, why I don't have a girlfriend and still live at home. I was discussing this with someone I trusted a couple of weeks ago. I told him that I just work one day a week and I had to exagerate that it was because I have a sleeping disorder. When I got introduced to someone and she asked me what I did for a living and then I told her, this "friend" blurted out, "yeah, one day a week !" - ok, so he was probably being sarcastic but it was not the time since I'd just met this woman - it took the smile of her face anyway.