I also learned a similar lesson, but to be fair I had a "good streak" of some supportive people who had promised (red flag right there!!) that they were with me no matter what. Until yet another diagnosis came along, and medical bills shot up.... now it's "one too many" and some people don't want to be bothered with me anymore. So, for now I have one person that I trust not to abandon me, but they're in another country and I don't want to abuse their kindness to me. Otherwise - blood relative is meaningless, religious people are even worse, promises are irrelevant, and most use the term "friend" very loosely. I admit that this sudden "where'd everybody go" experience has me feeling like the biggest burden again, and that I should not be here. Would definitely make my family's lives easier if I weren't, and it would wipe out a lot of debt.