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.