The thing missing is not conversation about work. It is the unplanned, low-stakes contact that came free with an office.
Replace incidental contact deliberately
Something recurring and in person, on a schedule you do not renegotiate weekly. A class, a sport, a co-working day, a standing coffee. The regularity is what does the work.
Inside work
Ask one colleague a week for a fifteen-minute call about nothing in particular. It feels awkward twice and normal thereafter, and it is how remote colleagues become actual colleagues.
Take it seriously early
Isolation compounds slowly and is much harder to reverse after a year. If it is affecting your mood persistently, that is worth raising with a doctor or counsellor rather than waiting it out.
Common questions
Is remote work bad for mental health?
It varies. The risk factor is losing incidental social contact, which can be replaced deliberately but rarely happens by accident.
How do I make friends at a remote job?
Short regular non-work calls with individual colleagues, and attending any in-person gathering the company offers.