Thanks for the feedback, it's been interesting.

I do look for menial jobs, although I haven't had an interview in a long time. I'm too out of practice.

My fear is that I'll just end up taking these jobs not as a stepping stone but as a permanent job and I'll be completely unsociable, and I'll be defined as whatever the job is and I'll be undateable, etc. But as you point out, any job is better than unemployment so I probably need to challenge this thought.

On the other hand if I just went and got a job, I would just be fulfilling my usual pattern of being unemployed for long stretches, then panicking and just going and getting a job somewhere, anywhere. Then repeating that pattern. I want to ensure that I don't get into the same trap next time.