I'll tell you what's really depressing...

... it's realising most of your social life is actually centred around work (or your work location) and your work colleagues.

I do have more friends/family on the net than IRL (in real life), owing to the fact that none of them live here in the UK. But here's the problem: with online friends you can receive encouragement, validation, a word to cheer you up, from your friends on the 'net, but once the screen flicks off, you're alone again.

I didn't realise I had to actually put in the work of making friends and going to social events, what with my near-crippling shyness and all (so for me yeah, it does feel like work). Stuff does happen, friends get made, but I am not your standard hard-drinking, hill-walking, football-loving fella so I guess even in friendly Scotland, "getting a life" a.k.a. freeing yourself of the work circle of "friends" (workplace friends are not really your friends) does take time and effort.