I'm having quite the same issues you have, at least it's what it was back when I still needed someone to talk to. I had very severe depressions. Once in a while I was abandoning all people I know and stick to someone comfortable at that moment, usually only one person. I'm pretty not outgoing person most of the time, and I've been having panic attacks just by visiting a café. Having conversations via e-mails where you can have messages of any length and writing them at moments when I feel comfortable to do so helped a lot.
I understand what you're talking about, it's very healthy kind of relationships between two people or more that have energy to be stable and comfort each other, but I think I was talking about the places with people who actually don't have such energy, in the very beginning. That's why these groups and chats are different from person-to-person communication: if you're absent, they can switch to someone else in the meantime, and you can be closer the moments when you actually need that. I guess it's silly to describe that with words, it's just how it happens sometimes when you get into the right place with the right people. And small communities tend to be more caring to each other and more comfortable places overall, so it must be less stress and entanglement.
Also depression is curable, well, if it's not about being blind forever and just about stress and spontaneous depression outrages. If you find someone with the same issues, you'll find a person that will be more tolerant to your issues with mood and personality. The downside is: you have to be caring and tolerant to their issue, too.