Dealing w/ Depression and Loneliness

I'm looking for advice on how to find friends or folks with similar interests. I live in a small rural part of central Pennsylvania and to this day, anime isn't quite mainstream. I told my therapist that the characters and storylines in whichever anime I may be watching at the time, are my closest friends. But even then, enjoying it on my own is still a lonely hobby. My question is this... How do I share my hobbies and interests with others when there seems to be nobody interested?

I will try to help as best as I can. Since you are in a place where anime isn't mainstream try to meet with others on here who share interest in the same thing (so anime as an example). Although the people you meet on here are not from the same area as you, I am certain that you will meet some people who share the same interest as you. And I don't doubt that any anime you are watching at the time some will be more then happy to share about it with you. And if you wanna find friends on here, just look at the forums and you might find some good friends here. I am no expert on this kind of stuff but I hope what I said helped out in some way. I wish you the best of luck.

I appreciate this very much. Using platforms such as this seems like a good starting point. I've always had problems staying engaged in online discussions, but I think that just boils down to me needing to put a better foot forward..

You'd be surprised how many people watch anime. While maybe not binge watchers, even folks at bars or the clubs have seen a few sometimes. Point being, don't be afraid to include anime as a hobby when you talk to people in public or otherwise, oftentimes it can lead to a relatable conversation.

Meeting people with similar interests can be difficult, it was the same thing in my case. At my school anime isn't common whatsoever. But since joining this site, I have met many wonderful people and the conversation is easier since we already have a starting point for conversations. As for real life friends, even people who don't watch anime I have found can be interested in hearing more about it. Anyone who genuinely wants to be your friend will not judge you or hold anything against you based on your interests. It is the opposite, they'll want to see you happy no matter what you enjoy.

Honestly, the hard part is the ability to go out. Am not sure about the conventions in your area, but that is a small start.

Loneliness might be a bigger threat than smoking, but it helps you avoid people who smoke or even inhale other similar things. It even helps you study and relax out from noisy or even dangerous environments and hangouts. As for depression, I'd rather let aging to death take me down than manually put my life down. But most importantly, struggle hard and increase little by little. https://youtu.be/J-p_0FDlpkw

I really want to thank you all for the advice and suggestions. Hopefully, since I've been more open about myself, things will slowly work themselves out. I've found even at work, talking about my interests, they might look at me strange but nobody judges the way I would have suspected. That's foul on my part, expecting others to be so judgmental. I suspect, it's a two way thing. Being open, and at the same time, letting others in.