There is no switch to "turn off" depression. It's a long process. What has worked for me in the past is connecting to others. Take a class, refresh skills, join an outdoor club, find a meetup, either a programming meetup or even something else. Exercise is a cheap form of anti-depressants.

I have also found finding or hiring a job coach (offering a post hiring fee) to be VERY helpful.

Trying to lift oneself out of a downward spiral is extremely difficult.

It is possible to "turn it off"

As you say, doing new hobbies, meeting people etc. They all trigger the "honeymoon phase". Your body literally creates chemicals that turn off any depression.

The key would be for depressed people to keep changing it up and finding things they like instead of sticking with the same.

The vicious cycle occurs because a depressed person doesn't bother looking for anything, so nothing changes, so they get even more depressed.

Even if they do become self aware enough in order to make a change (as you did), they still have the mindset that "I'm doing this because I am depressed".

This means they are still not enjoying the full experience of life, as they are predisposed to failure.

A depressed person requires a hard emotional trigger to "snap" them out of it, something unexpected, something that invokes basic instincts, something that even their depressed mind can't ignore.

A simple example could be triggering survival instincts invoked by physical pain - this causes the body to take over and force the brain to engage.

The brain is no longer catatonic - it is forced to deal with the issue at hand (survival). There is no room to "be depressed". It's act or die.

This invokes instincts that activate the adrenaline in the system.

After the danger is resolved, the body relaxes and there is relief, adrenaline high. The brain realizes "hey that wasn't so bad". This high is what needs to be exercised again.

This activates the mind to start finding ways to get that high.

TIL: Depressed people need to get their first hit on getting high on life.

I would say you are correct here, but some further clarity would help.

Depression doesn't have an off switch. When you are depressed for a long time your brain starts to rewire into those depressed patterns. So "turning it off" isn't really what's occurring, when you exercise or take medication, if anything its like a pause button. But hitting that pause button regularly can rewire you back to a normal state, but frequently adjusting your brain chemistry isn't enough. Which is why there's a high frequency of relapse with depression treated with medication.

You do correctly point out though that changing the relationship to moods and depression does help. Reorienting how you think about yourself and how you self-identify is critical to not falling backwards into depression mental patterns. The key is to realize that you are not your thoughts or feelings, they are merely an aspect of you and they change as frequently as the weather outside does.

I like the TechLead's channel, too. He can be a little sarcastic at times, which may not be obvious if you only watch one or two of his videos.

Yeah, he is quite saractic :) But he just cuts through all the bs.