Ask HN: What non pharmacological means do you use to manage anxiety/depression?

Depression at its core, for me, has a feeling of a lack of control and helplessness over a situation--whether it's a real situation or a perceived one by my mind. By having a list and being able to do things on it, I gain a feeling of control that is out of my head and can be proved because I checked it off, marking it done.

A general item, for example, in the to-do list templates I have when I'm feeling the start of my episode is "Brushing My Teeth." It's horrendously mundane, but it's actionable, simple, and also necessary (to me). It might be a small thing, but getting that crossed off shows me, "Hey, I did something, I do have some control over my situation right now."

Doing fun stuff and doing stuff that you're good at (especially when some other areas of your life suck at the time and you feel like a failure, yay dopamine).

CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) has been proven to work quite well for anxiety.

The trigger for my depressive moods have always been the feeling of being abandoned or being left alone. It could be a breakup with a girl friend, or it could be close colleagues left for other companies, leaving me being the only person on the team. Or a graduation with me being the only one that have not found a job or being accepted by a grad school.

Coding rather than writing for me, but this really helps. Ensuring I do something every day on a (non-work) code project helps me feel that I'm always moving forwards.