Dealing w/ Depression and Loneliness

I have found countless people in EVERY job that have an interest in video games or anime. They may not have an obsession, but it doesn't hurt to ask them if they've atleast seen certain shows and go from there.

i grew up in the country(the middle of nowhere basically). Far from civilization and my friend who I grew up with who lived nearby actually introduced me to anime. You’d be surprised who nearby you actually likes anime, but you won’t know unless you ask or talk to them about it. If there’s someone you know who doesn’t watch it, if they’re open minded, you could be like “hey check this out”. If they like it(like I did) they like it. If they don’t, they don’t. Also, not all friends have to like the same thing. I know my friend never watched Harry Potter, and that’s ok. Our differences and different tastes are what makes us unique. At my school we had an anime club, so if you’re still in school you could always make friends that way. I know people in my school literally made their own clubs, so if your school doesn’t have one, you could make one. You might have to talk to the pronciple or whoever is in charge of that stuff. if not in school, I’m sure there’s community clubs as well for the community. I know libraries sometimes do club stuff like that. There’s also conventions and places like MO where you can extend your social circle.

As far as depression goes I would recommend seeing a professional for that and having support from your friends and family. Just remember to take it one day at a time and to try and stay positive.

I grew up in a very small and rural town (less than 2K people) in the midwest. The closest McDonalds to us at the time was like a 45 min drive lol. This was back in the 90's when anime was even far less known than it is even now so I can somewhat empathize with your situation OP. After high school I was pretty fortunate that I found a local anime club at the university next door to my technical college I was attending at the time that allowed outside people and it was a great way to facilitate and meet new people about it. The best thing I can say is, if there isn't a local anime spot, maybe look into starting one. Some public places like libraries and schools do allow these sorts of gatherings so it might be something to consider. Attending cons is another great way to reach out and meet some like minded people.

@Parasol I’m from the Midwest too. Small world. Anytime my mom wanted to get groceries we’d have to drive 45 minutes to Walmart, however long it took us to shop, and 45 minutes to get home. We spent more time in the car than actual shopping. Getting groceries was a chore. I always wanted to join the anime club at my school, but I was always too shy about it to ask to join. I was always too busy with homework in school, and because of that never really had a social life. Even if I had joined, I probably wouldn’t be able to make many meetings, due to my busy schedule. One of the reasons I quit boy scouts. Just too much homework to do. I changed schools and moved Junior year. Then I graduated.

My friends help me during my depressive episodes. Apart from that, just keeping yourself busy helps. Always have a feasible goal to work towards. Medication also helps.