Thanks healingme4me & Pizza!

Assertiveness yeah, I've read books on it, it still didn't come naturally in some circumstances..
Asking for clarification - I like that! Might need to write down some possible sentences and carry around with me when needed, or when talking on Skype or such.

There are people online who question the validity of the diagnosis 'schizophrenia' and I question if I was 'labelled' right anyway, so when did I let this become so important to prevent me from new friendships or standing up for myself etc? Good question.

These two friends are both divorced and have to take care of themselves (which I admire them for!), they have no parents anymore, while I've lived with my parents and have had it 'easy' in their eyes..
They do have lesser education than I and had to work more to support themselves... so there may be a point in what you say, Pizza!
I don't see myself as 'better' or 'better off' than them though, maybe they did in a way...
I don't know if they might have any self-hate, they seem pretty pleased with themselves overall (?). Just not with their life/money situation that much.
I can understand they've been under stress so I used to cut them some slack.

They can be very loud and expressive when bothered by something/angry. Or even when just talking about 'not-so-important' things... On the phone, I learnt to just end the conversation then, if I couldn't pull it into more 'peaceful waters'.