It's so hard. When you're sick and it consumes your life you forget how it is to operate otherwise. I've only been out of the game for a year and a half and now that I'm starting to reconnect I have a lot of anxiety about it. The few times I've been out I've abused pills to keep myself disconnected and relaxed. Obviously this is not the way to do things. I just started therapy to work on my issues. The immediate benefits have been that it forces me to get out of the house more than usual and it forces me to hold a conversation with someone for an hour. The practice helps.