When I dealt with depression about 10 years back, I tried over the counter meds, meditation, even went to a therapist. What helped was looking ahead. Planning stuff, forcing myself to get out and do the things I liked and to recognize the signs I was becoming depressed so I could keep it at bay. Most importantly talking helped. Mainly with my wife, but slowly with others. It sounds funny, but just knowing others were dealing with similar problems helped me not feel so alone. The feeling that I was unique and something was wrong with me went away and I realized that we all get depressed now and then.
When something comes up, like my ongoing dealings with my FIL's estate in Oregon, I just maintain a bright outlook and remember everything works out eventually. You wait long enough, bad turns to good. You just gotta have faith and keep plugging away. It may sound hokey, but a good attitude and a belief that stuff works itself out helps good stuff come your way.
In fishing, believing that a fish is looking at your fly, following it and about ready to take it makes you a better fisherman. It's not magic or ESP, but that belief keeps you focused on the task. It helps you to see the things you would otherwise miss, the opportunities that others never see. It opens your mind to the possibility of catching fish.
Same in life. If you believe that good things are coming, you will be open to those opportunities and be ready to take them. You open your mind to the possibility and suddenly you see things you missed before.
True story from this past weekend. We were not looking forward to going to Oregon and dealing with my FIL's dirty, rat infested home and outbuildings and the facility he is in gave us bad news about his health.
We were determined to get this taken care of by the end of April. We didn't despair, we listed his truck on Craigslist, we called real estate agent to look at the property and we started cleaning. It looked like an impossible task, but we had a plan.
As soon as the truck ad was up we got a call and over the next hour we got 15 more! We sold it to a guy down the street for nearly the asking price. I began moving an old boat out of the way and they guy that brought the truck showed up and wondered if the boat was for sale. 5 minutes later we sold that. And he then offered to help if we needed him. We made a friend. I sold him some other boats stuff as I found it.
The real estate agent was very dour on a potential sale saying our price was unlikely. As he left a neighbor stopped by and offered to buy the place for a very reasonable price...AS IS. He has money and wants to keep the neighborhood tranquil and will bulldoze the place and keep the land open space. He has done the same with othe properties in the area (must be nice). We will likely take the offer as it saves us a lot of hassle in cleaning the place up, not to mention the real estate fees.
When my DW was visiting her father she found him happy and better than he had been in weeks. A new combo of medicine was keeping him calmer and he was laughing and joking with other residents and with her, though he wasn't always sure who she was.
Bottom line, we left feeling optimistic and I believe it was because we had a belief that things would work out. We were open to good things and when they found us, we saw them and were able to take advantage. We focused on them and not on the bad (and there was plenty of bad). Obviously, things don't always work out so cleanly, but I think you don't even have a chance if you focus on the bad and don't believe good will come your way.
Took me a while to find that attitude again after my depression, but once good things start happening, they seem to keep happening. It's all how you look at things.
Hope that helps. I suppose its all a kind of personal and we all have our own silver bullet to beat these feelings, but lot's of good advice in this thread to help you find yours.