Felt down as soon as I woke up - a recurring pattern these days.

Work was OK. I was working next to one of my American colleagues today who is always super lively (and a bit bonkers too, to be honest). I chatted to him a bit and we went for lunch together, which was quite nice. I'm trying to be as sociable as I can at the minute, although it can be an effort these days. I think my colleagues have noticed that I'm much more withdrawn than I used to be.

While I was at work I got an email from my UK friend who I used to work with in Beijing before he moved back. He also has bad depression and we've been emailing regularly and swapping news and support. It's great to have someone like that who I can really open up to - I'm so grateful to have him as a friend.

I was still pretty down by the time I got home, but I managed to persuade myself to have a workout which I was pleased about. Packed my bag for the work trip tomorrow to Tianjin, watched the UK news (pretty much all about Covid) then went to bed.

It wasn't a bad day all-in-all, and as usual, evening was the best part. My day always starts off super-low and gradually improves throughout. Then things seem to reset overnight and I'm miserable again the next morning.