I was really depressed while doing my PhD, and something that helped me a lot was getting seriously involved in a social dance community.
I think this could help you a lot. It really seems to me that what you’re missing is human connection, and social dance is a way to facilitate it.
There are dance communities with plenty of people your age. It’s a totally different scene from bars and clubs. People don’t drink very much because it gets in the way of dancing.
It’s also a good way to find potential relationship partners, although the primary interest should be the dancing, since people can tell if you’re just there to hook up and that will come off as creepy and predatory.
> It’s also a good way to find potential relationship partners, although the primary interest should be the dancing, since people can tell if you’re just there to hook up and that will come off as creepy and predatory.
If anyone reading this is lonely and thinking of going to social outings for the purpose of finding a partner: do it. It's ok! It's not creepy or predatory.
Furthermore, reading peoples' minds is very difficult, so people actually can't tell what motivated you to go to a social outing. It's okay to go to a social outing motivated by the prospect of finding a partner, and it's okay to say that you're out to "learn to dance" or to "have a drink" or any number of things.
I think this could help you a lot. It really seems to me that what you’re missing is human connection, and social dance is a way to facilitate it.
There are dance communities with plenty of people your age. It’s a totally different scene from bars and clubs. People don’t drink very much because it gets in the way of dancing.
It’s also a good way to find potential relationship partners, although the primary interest should be the dancing, since people can tell if you’re just there to hook up and that will come off as creepy and predatory.