First of all, thank you for sharing your story. It takes a lot of courage to be vulnerable.

Do people make your depression worse? In my own opinion, it's the way you view people that makes it worse.

The emptiness you describe isn't necessarily bad. It's actually neutral. What makes it bad is your interpretation or rumination (pattern of thinking).

If you put your happiness on other people, when the people leave, your happiness leaves with them. We can't necessarily control our emotions, our environment does. Generate your happiness from within.

Your friend you describe sounds nice. Avoid isolation. The more you are alone, the darker the depression gets.

You are already loved and accepted but you haven't fully realized it.

When you say you know you did this to yourself, there is a lot of power in that statement. One of them is the concept of responsibility. You took responsibility for an outcome, which is not an easy thing to do.

By being alone forever, you may see it as your not hurting anyone but I'm here to tell you, that you are hurting the whole world when you choose to be alone. The world needs your gift whatever that may be.