Depression

It's a weird thing when it just slides in there. I'm used to fighting with myself and getting anxious, but the depression one always catches me a little off-guard. Both just slowly creep in as I'm going about business, but anxiety I tend to fight so when I eventually do realize what's going on, although I don't exactly know what to do or what it is, I feel like I was actually doing something to cause it and so I don't exactly feel so hopeless. And since I am stimulated from anxiety, usually I just (well, not just) need to do something to calm myself down.

Depression, on the other hand, I never exactly know why it is coming. Things feel natural until I am going to go do something else and I realize that it seems like an abnormally overwhelmingly difficult thing to do. Up until that point I can sense that something is amiss, but it seems like it is just a natural thing and will go away...but it doesn't. Also, it is the opposite of stimulation so it's a little more difficult to bring my emotions up rather than down.
*Wow. I just realized that part of my problems in coming out of anxiety is that I keep trying to go up in mood, when really I need to go down a little. Maybe mood is not the right word but I need to relax and stop trying to be happy because I may have too many chemicals running around up there. Hmmm...more investigation on this is needed.*
So with depression I start asking myself questions like:
-Do I feel like there is nothing good in the future?
-Isn't there something that I am looking forward to?
-Am I thinking about one thing over and over again?
-Am I avoiding thinking about something?
-Is something in the past bothering me?
-What am I willing to do to alleviate this feeling?
It really is a weird feeling. It almost feels normal. At least my anxiety doesn't feel normal. I guess that may be because of the physical symptoms like dry mouth, racing thoughts, headache, accelerated heart beat, etc. Depression is more just (well, not just) a heaviness of my head and increasing difficulty in performing activities.
Some other things I have found helpful in dealing with the feelings of depression are:
-Take a walk
-Meditate (this can be done any way someone wants, I just try to be comfortable and give myself a good amount of time to focus on my thoughts and try to let them go/think less)
-Do some sort of stimulating activity.
-Keep asking myself questions until I figure out what is wrong.
-Look up something online about depression (learn more about it).

I think Conor (the singer of Bright Eyes) has had a good amount of depression and I love the way his songs handle the emotions. I especially love the lyrics at the end of this song where he says "And when I press the keys, it all gets reversed, the sound of loneliness makes me happier."
Bright Eyes - Poison Oak