>>9 in which state are you living? You say you live in a small town (which one?), but you have an university there, so I'm sure there must be videogames and manga/anime shops. If possible, you could even leave some ad by them, or directly speak to the shopkeepers. You could also think about starting/joining something in your university, including weekly exchanges of mangas, videogames, whatever. Who knows, you might even start a local mini-convention, or get some people to go with you to some convention close to you.

Hey, you are a researcher, if you seriously put your head into this, you'll find ways of finding... Why not write to the ABRADEMI? (http://www.abrademi.com/) they may be able to give you some contacts in your region, maybe even in your town.

As for depression, it's because people ignore the issue that it lasts longer. But if it's not actually preventing you from working, it's still ok. But keep that in mind, specially if you find yourself letting weeks pass without productive work.