Mark250

Lemsip. Pretty sick, but might just be a case of man-flu.

Losing one sock. The other sock almost feels like it's mocking me.

The new Stephen King book, Elevation.

Hope you like it, although I didn't much like the most recent episode (Tsuranga Conundrum). Let me know what you think.

Only the brave can face loneliness.

Any body see the new Dr Who episode?

Cardio exercise, such as jogging really helps with falling asleep faster and better. Reading before bedtime instead of watching TV helps.

Hi there. I have a lot of trouble with job interviews, too. Be well-prepared for the interview in advance, like doing your homework on the company and planning your route getting there. This is unorthodox I know, but I usually down something like a whisky & coke before heading out to settle my nerves and make me more chatty as I have a tendency to clam up, and avoid caffeine completely. Remember your breathing -- lots of deep breathes. Chewing on gum before going in can help sometimes. Get as much sleep as possible the night before -- this is perhaps my weakest area. Hope this helps. Do you have an interview coming up?

Child worship. Brexit mania. Drivers who don't bother indicating. The extortionate price of my train tickets that are clearly not being invested in improvements. My local town; a desolate dump of charity shops, betting shops, take-aways and empty units.

Many of the big banks using sickly sweet, family-orientated TV ads to try and repair their tarnished reputations and to try and make ordinary people forget how atrociously they behaved.

Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut. It's a little schizophrenic to read, but I'm mostly enjoying it.

I haven't seen that documentary, but it sounds both horrifying and plausible. I also live alone in a flat and if I were to die at home, I imagine it would be a long time until anybody noticed my demise. I've been doing volunteer stuff in an attempt to try and get out more and meet new people, but it's not making much difference. It becomes tougher to make new friends when everybody your age is marrying up and having all their spare time taken up by work and child-rearing.

Bit of an odd one, perhaps. I was wondering if anybody else had trouble reaching out to their neighbours' or knocking on their doors. I live in a block of apartments and have done for ages now, but don't really know any of my neighbours'. Is this just me or some kind of phenomenon? I sometimes have an urge to knock on somebody's door, but always just dismiss it away. None of them knock on my door, either. Except to complain about something. It's true that I'm reserved and reticent and sometimes aloof, but this is something that's frequently mistaken for rudeness. With the exception of one, I've never had altercations or run-ins with the neighbours'. The man in the apartment opposite to my own has been my neighbour since I moved in in 2003, and I still don't even know what his first name is. This seems so weird and unnatural to me, but I've never been the kind of person to strike up impromptu conversation with strangers. I tend to communicate more confidently in writing than socialising. Some of my neighbours' are vulnerable pensioners and I often feel guilty about not showing more interest in them. Any similar situations out there or advice?

All over the place. Started cold, now humid.

Hi Vicious cycle. You sound like you're doing all the right things. Just being there for somebody going through depression is one of the subtlest but most effective approaches. Not everything has to be so pro-active or practical. Men have a tendency to self-isolate and withdraw when depressed. I've always thought depression is rougher on males, as women mature faster emotionally and psychologically and have much better support networks, but maybe I've trodden on some toes here. I only understand depression from the male perspective. In males, depression almost always amplifies anger and aggression, so watch out for that. In regards to mmoose, don't presume all withdrawers are not angry -- I'm a 'withdrawer' myself, but suffer with a lot of anger, I'm just good at keeping a lid on it through years of practice. Not the best method, I know.