I have suffered from depression before, to be honest I am not sure what I did to get out. I didn't get therapy and it wasn't a sudden realisation. I guess I had to take it a day at the time and was fortunate to have people around me that care for me.
I think I have better tools to recognise and mange symptoms before I spiral too out of control.
I think some advice has helped me, like
* Trying to be more present. I always have had a loud anxious mind that will absolutely bring the worse case scenario. Simple exercises to engage your senses. sound, view,
* A simple activity like a counting backwards in multiples of seven from 100. Etc just enough o redirect the brain away from the nefarious thought can be the difference to weather a hard time.
* Learning that there's a difference between your conscious active thinking and the background thinking that your brain, as an organ, will do but doesn't necessarily means that's you has been a game changer. You don't have to engage, you just have to acknowledge the thought and let go of it, rather than going down the rabbit hole.