Years ago, I was a bodyworker. During my training, we watched a short documentary film about humans' need for touch. One part I recall very well involved a study conducted at the public library in NYC. They had instructed the people at the book checkout desk, for a certain period of time, to very casually and briefly touch half of the library users who were checking out books - very quick contact with their hand or arm as they checked out or wished them a good day, and to avoid any touch at all with the other half of the folks coming out. There was someone stationed nearby to notate who had been touched and who hadn't. Others were stationed outside the library posing as survey takers. All they asked the people coming out was what their opinion of the library was. Were they happy with it, satisfied, dissatisfied, etc.
Right down the line, every single person who had been touched LOVED the library and raved about it. Every person who had not been touched had reactions that were either negative or neutral. I always thought that was interesting. People need to be touched. I respond very strongly to touch, and it is one of my highest ranking "love languages." I don't go through what you go through, but I can understand it. When I was practicing bodywork, I could connect very deeply with my clients and often had images come to me that, if I asked that person about them, were relevant to their lives. Silly things like the color of someone's kitchen, would pop into my mind's eye while massaging them. It was like being clairvoyant through touch.
Anyway, I think you've been given some good advice - I especially like the idea of volunteering to work with elderly people. You could volunteer at an animal shelter too. I hate the whole Cuddle Party money-making machine, but I bet Cuddle Parties would be good for you -- also Contact Improvisation or Dances of Universal Peace. I am also wondering if just working with your hands in some way, like making pottery would satisfy something in you as well.
If you are looking seriously at anti-depressants, check out natural sources like 5-HTP taken with L-Tyrosine.