[spaghetti]

Getting help is goal number one. However leading a more balanced life helps tremendously with preventing and maintaining some mental issues associated with thousands of hours of intellectually intense work. I feel strongly the above suggestions of spending more time outdoors, meeting new people etc are much more than "just cheer up" advice.

[derefr]

The problem with that kind of advice is that doing those things (spending time outdoors, meeting new people) require willpower, and being depressed, or anxious, or in a number of other states of mind, saps your willpower, and therefore your ability to execute on any of these suggestions.

Practical suggestions are the kind of things a therapist will recommend when you do seek help: cognitive behavioral therapy, or pharmacological solutions. They're practical because talking to someone on a set schedule every week, or taking a pill on a set schedule every day, requires much less willpower than the things people usually suggest, but has effects which increase your willpower, and thus your capacity for attempting those other things.

[trafficlight]

When you're in deep depression you literally can't make yourself do anything. You may logically and reasonably know that you should go outside but you can't force yourself to actually open the door.