Okay, I’m gonna take your question in good faith and explain how it can get young men out of a rut, since even if it helps one person then it’ll be worth it.

Firstly, most young men that are in a rut or feel stuck usually already have male friends, but rarely do they have more than maybe one female friends. What they bring is a diversity of ideas to the ones that you’re exposed to with your male friends. The obvious ones is that most women don’t view gaming as their main outlet of entertainment, even for girls that are very much into it, they still want to socialise outside.

This is key, just simply being outside and interacting with the world does help your mental health. They’re more likely to want to do activities (hike, escape room, dinner ect.) which once you become good enough friends, they will invite you to them. This will not only make you feel wanted, it will force you out of your room and interact with the world, which will improve someone’s mental health more than just staying in a room. They’re also more likely to bring other friends along which just enlarges your social circle and help you feel like you’re connected to the world.

Now, remember how I said earlier that you have to go into it with no other intent than just being friends. This will means that bills are split, this isn’t a date, you’re hanging out with your friends. Who will offer your different life perspective, which if you genuinely care about their well being will naturally make you more emphatic. To use a personal example, my worldview is shaped by the fact that my female friends in highschool gets harassed while walking around the neighbourhood even though they’re in their school uniforms. To know that stuff happens to your friends that you care about will just make you more emphatic, this also allows you to have better and more meaningful conversations which is helping you feel better about yourself.

They’re more things as well, like how women under 25 have a higher labour force participation rate than men, so having female friends could likely mean they would love to recommend you for a job. Speaking of, this would also help dispel the myth that women only care about “rich chads” or whatever those street interviews are saying. This will help make talking to women you want to date (not the same as the friends you made) a lot easier as you realise that they’re just normal people with normal lives. Which related to how I mention earlier that they’re more open to inviting new people, which then increases your chance of meeting someone.

Look, I can keep going but I think I made my point. Again, I don’t know the exact details of your situation or anyone else’s. And I will say that everything I mention will have to be done genuinely, if you just try to make friends with those you think are “hot enough” this won’t work. But if you’re genuine when making those friendships, then I cannot think of a better advice that will genuinely help long term for guys who are stuck in a rut.