I went through the exact same thing a few years ago. I've always been a loner (I have a decent group of friends but I'm happy to see them once/twice a month whe

I went through the exact same thing a few years ago. I've always been a loner (I have a decent group of friends but I'm happy to see them once/twice a month when they see each other several times a week). Then I moved abroad. I thought it would be fine but I quickly realised how much that once/twice a month mattered and the lack of social contact/failure to meet new people because of anxiety caused me to be very 'down' for several months. It was strange to find myself craving social interaction considering how often I made excuses to get out of it before. It's also interesting to note that having daily contact with these people on Facebook/Skype etc. wasn't a substitute. Without it I would have been even more depressed, it definitely helped, but it was no where close to a decent substitute.