If you have friends or family that want to help out, try not to be too proud and let them (at least as far as accepting free meals and whatnot). I always felt uncomfortable "mooching" off people, but it really helped me get through that period without being totally miserable. I never asked for it, but I did accept it when offered.
As a side effect of what I went through, once I paid off my credit cards I have yet to take out another one (still haven't) years later, and I avoided taking on any new debt as much as possible. I was really hesitant to "buy" a house and bought one a lot later than I probably should have, and thus forewent years and years of building up equity (I only bought a house a year ago, and probably could have 5 or 6 years ago, in retrospect). It really screwed with my head, mentally.
I went through a period of near poverty myself (seriously considered declaring bankruptcy a couple of times), and it seemed like the first year or two of any new job I had was just digging myself out of the hole from last time (only to get laid off right as I was starting to get back to a 'normal' amount of debt, and thus be forced to dig myself back deep into debt while I made the next job work). It can be a vicious cycle. I'm finally free of it, but if I was forced not to work for six months or so due to a health issue I could very easily be back in the midst of it again.