[molloy]

These are the ways I effectively stave off my depression, for me personally hitting every point is extremely important:

* Proper diet

* Consistent sleep schedule

* Maintaining a social support network (and having a dog)

* An hour of light to moderate cardio _every_day_ (walking my dog forces me to do this, but I also bike to work and go rock climbing.) My anxiety melts away when I do cardio.

* Focus on my hobbies and individualism

* Self-guided CBT

* Medication for ADHD when I'm working on something that is too painfully boring to work on (armodafinil)

* Focusing on pragmatism and thoughtfulness in every action (or at least, aspiring to)—Check out stoicism and virtue ethics

I have struggled with major depression for years, but have finally clawed my way out of it and am trying to proactively safeguard myself from ever slipping back into my own personal hell. Life is damn good, but I have to stay vigilant. Godspeed. And remember, treating the physical symptoms comes first.

[specialist]

Great summary, in additional to all the other great replies.

I’ll simply add two more.

Keep asking for help, trying new things. Someone somewhere has an answer for you. It also helps if you have someone in your life to serve as your “patient advocate”, keeping you honest, on track, to help calibrate your self reporting.

Anxiety and depression are wicked hard to untangle. My own recent example:

My sweetie now has some hearing sensitivity issues, magnifying the other issues. After much effort, we finally determined that age onset tinnitus has become a factor. Validation and mitigation steps helped to make progress on other fronts (eg improving sleep).

[padobson]

This is an excellent list and fairly close to what I do. Diet and exercise can be game changers.

I jog for exercise. When I'm dealing with a deep bout of depression, nothing works better than a fast mile. A comfortable pace for me is about 8-8.5 minutes per mile. If I want to break out of depression, I'll run the first mile around 7. The resultant runner's high almost immediately shocks me out of the depression.

I'd also add meditation/prayer to the list, plus I see a professional therapist every two weeks.

[molloy]

Meditation is a great addition to the list and I can't believe I glossed over it, it played a huge part in my recovery. I try to live life in a state of flow, if that makes sense—"Be thoughtful" is my mantra when I slip out of it.

[lolwutf]

Important ADHD medication note: Armodafinil is a narcolepsy medication being used off-label for OP here. It's only FDA approved for treating narcolepsy. Usage in ADHD treatment is both novel and highly individual.

[molloy]

Thanks for the addendum. It's prescribed for ADHD off-label more frequently than most people realize, and I've been prescribed strattera, concerta, and adderall before settling on armodafinil.

[b3b0p]

I don't feel as if I have depression, but I am lonely.

I want a dog, but I'm afraid I won't have the time to take of it.

[lazyhummingbird]

Same here. But I've noticed that a lot of people in my same situation have a dog and make it work. I am more seriously considering it because it's something I truly want and I have a feeling money can solve some of the challenges that I keep imagining.

[flycaliguy]

That was such a useful summery of what I've arrived upon less clearly. CBT and Stoic really gave me a lot.

[albertLuth]

great answer