Struggling with Chronic Depression

Same

Training yourself to be positive is the same as working out, it takes practice to get good at. Even if it feels like you're lying to yourself, just keep acting positive, fake it til you make it. Also, motivation is a trick designed by neurotypical people, you gotta practice just doing things anyways when you aren't feeling motivated

Yeah, start with a hobby. Try doing special activities with friends. Or if you’re crafty make a mood blanket. Those things are so pretty and keep your mind off of things

What I think helps is getting really into something, whether it’s a videogame or skill or a career path even if it seems unrealistic, just something that you could build on or progress towards and set different goals for varying time spans. Like if you’re into gaming or drawing, in your free time you can focus on finishing a section within the next few days or improving over a few weeks/months, working on setting small goals while entertaining yourself in return. And let’s say you dream to be an artist or whatever, I know when you’re depressed it feels like it doesn’t even matter because life doesn’t seem to be worth living, but even when I get into a dark place sometimes I find myself thinking “damn, but I still want to achieve xyz when I’m older” Also it’s ok if you’re not usually positive, it’s hard to be when you’re struggling with depression. But what you can do is try to be realistic and catch yourself in certain thought patterns that may not benefit you, but even can reality gets distorted too so you should also talk to friends you can trust or to a professional if you can afford one