Home alone: Remote work, isolation, and mental health

Post by stringfood » Sun, Jun 07, 2026, 2:55 AM UTC

Cyclone_ wrote: post #101

stringfood wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The worst thing about office friends is they immediatley cease to be friends when you are laid off or change jobs, only maybe 2% do I actually stay in contact with, and frankly that is just because of the nostalgia I have of working with them and the networking benefits. Work friends are not friends. People you meet near your home and at your book club are more likely to stick around through the thick and thin. That…

You probably just never got to know them that well and did things outside of work with them. I've met people at the office and stayed in touch with them and hung out after they left or I left the company.

Post by mh2266 » Sun, Jun 07, 2026, 3:16 AM UTC

Mwntalhwalth wrote: post #91

Wfh since long before covid (15 years) . It will 100% burn you out slowly while you think you are better and stronger than it. Feels good at the beginning likely b.c your current job is super toxic and your away from your boss but there are many factors largely due to isolation that will settle in. To survive wfh you need to concentrate heavily on early morning sunlight, walks throughout the day, yoga, acupuncture, b…

Post by nozzlegear » Sun, Jun 07, 2026, 3:29 AM UTC

tayo42 wrote: post #78

obscurette wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being forced to interact with people you haven't chosen to socialize is good for your mental health and for society. People interacting with different people are less afraid of the world, more trusting etc. Clustering into echochambers is bad for society as a whole.

Work is a fake environment where your communication is policed and you need to read books about how to effectively communicate to influence people do the things you want. Normals socialization isn't like that.

Post by throwaway2037 » Sun, Jun 07, 2026, 3:42 AM UTC

nextos wrote: post #117

budududuroiu wrote: post #23

Haven't been in an office since the start of COVID. Between being lucky enough to have a great coliving setup with dope housemates, and now having access to co-working cafes in Taipei that have genuine communities, I feel more social than ever with more meaningful connections. I still commute to the cafes, for me remote working is about not having to be tied to a geographic spot in order to keep my source of income,…

True, there's also another factor about not having to be tied to a geographic spot, housing costs. In EU, even relatively good IT salaries are mediocre when you factor in monthly rental. A simple one-bed apartment can easily take 50% of your net income. Having freedom to move, even within a particular country, allows reducing that 50% to something more sustainable.

Post by stringfood » Sun, Jun 07, 2026, 4:00 AM UTC

throwaway2037 wrote: post #138

tpmoney wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Work friends are not friends. This is reductive to the point of absurdity. Situational friends are still friends. How many of your elementary school friends are still your friends these days? High school? Summer camp? Heck college friends? Unless you're living in the same town with the same people, there's a good chance that most of them aren't anymore. Were these people also not your friends? When you leave that b…

> Work friends are not friends. Another dumb thing about this statement: It is just so situationally and culturally dependent. In many companies and cultures, it is quite normal to make good friends through work. One generality that I find true across many different situations and cultures: If you work in a generally low competition job, you are much more likely to make friends from work. The more competitive the job…