What is "support"?

I'm getting tired of not having any contact with my friends... they don't call (well, I don't have a phone), they don't email, they don't visit. When I contact them I maybe hear back, maybe not. But when I do get a response, they always say "but remember, you always have our support."

So what the heck does that mean exactly? Emotional support? How can you provide that when you don't speak to me? Help with errands, or even helping ease my day? How can you do that when you don't visit?

Today I got an email from a friend, he "can't imagine the stress I am under" but wants me to take things one step at a time, and be sure to eat because good nutrition is important so make getting to the grocery store a priority. He knows I have no car and no money. But now it is my priority. So thank you for that advice. (So what does that mean, I am supposed to have more anxiety about that than I have now?)

This is the same friend who goes for months with no contact but tells me he is always thinking about me, as if that is supposed to provide some sort of comfort when I am stuck in my house for weeks and months without end with no outside contact and no visitors.

These are friends who understand the illness, understand my needs, but don't seem to understand that a small amount of effort on their part would go a long way, even when I specifically tell them so.

At PC we provide support by listening to one another, sometimes offering advice, many times just lending an understanding ear. When one of us is having a hard time and posts about it, they don't have to wait three weeks for even an acknowlegement that our voice was heard.

I am in deep trouble, with no family to back me up. I don't expect or want my friends to give over their lives to me. I don't want money, help around the house, I'm not even asking for rides... just some contact on a regular basis so that it doesn't feel as if if I were to leave, no one would even know that I was gone for a month or so.