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I am a diagnosed minor mood disorder patient. That kind of sounds elaborate or made up right? It should because it's just another name for depression. I had to survive through the most depressing part of my life on my own. And I know what you are talking about. so I'll share you some advice solely as a victim, not as an expert(Which I'm not, I just have sufficient experience of my own). I hope this helps you.
At a very little age I was sent to a boarding school. I was most probably a second grader at that time. The reason my parents sent me there was because I was what they call A "Difficult child". So they thought it was best for me to study where I was separated from the real world. And when I was constantly being bullied and had to fight kids twice my size often which scarred Me. After five years of that torturous life and a lot of begging my parents decided to bring me back home. But the deed was done. I became a misfit here in public schools again. It took me over a year to make my first friend and only a couple of months later he decided to start ignoring me. I too moved on.
But I managed to somehow keep my self together for all those years. And as I was sinking in a lonely solitude of my own I became distressed and depressed. Had constant mood swings. So I decided to spend time on my own but by doing productive things. I made fishing gears slingshots. kites and went fishing or hunting on my own. It was for almost five to six years and in my free time, this is what I was doing. In high school, I changed school and my life started to change a little. I made a group of friends, but still, I found difficulties everywhere. And my older brother decided to take me to a therapist. I went through 7 or 8 sessions with him and I started to heed his advice and decided to lead a disciplined lifestyle.
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Now I'm almost near graduating with a BSS degree and I still go through similar hardships. But I learned and managed to cope with my depression.
I wrote all this because I think I needed to show where I exactly stand. Now if you didn't understand how I coped with depression from the experience I shared then let me break it into smaller pieces. The things you should and shouldn't do to cope with depression are as follows.
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Always keep yourself engaged in productive things, like start a garden, adopt a pet, or read books, hell start to write a book even, write diaries(might sound odd but it might help you), watch movies ,or do what I did , go hunting fishing or whatever but do something that is worth your time. You can even start a blog or a youtube channel.
Never, I repeat never keep remembering the bad experiences that might trigger a depressing phase. Try to learn from them, and find out what you are angry at.
Never isolate yourself from your family and friends. They are all you have. Talk with them if you can.
And the last one would be, seek professional help. Talk with a psychiatrist or a therapist(some might find both of those jobs to be same but in many countries, these are very different jobs.) who knows you might find some valuable life lessons that will help you throughout the rest of your life. Or I'd rather even say this that, scratch what I said, just seek professional help. That would be enough. And if you think your chosen therapist method isn't helping you then choose another one. You will be out of depression in no time. That was my advice for anyone who might be depressed or not. It might help anyone.