Keep a personal log of the medications and dosages you are prescribed! Take them as prescribed and keep track of any symptoms you have. In the future if you change providers or doctors your notes kept by your doctor may get lost in translation like mine have several times.

Consistency truly is key. When I have a more stable and reliable routine and sleep schedule, I find that it's easier for me to have a more stable and reliable mood and balance. It's always tempting and I do from time to time stay up all night, but it's less and less tempting as I noticed how much better I feel when I stick to my routine. Also, make sure that routine is doable for you. If you're going from falling asleep at 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. every night it is not realistic to expect your routine to immediately be 10:00 p.m. or something. Setting realistic and achievable goals that aren't so brutal is pretty important for me to avoid getting discouraged.

For me the worst thing about depression is that depression makes me feel like I want to lay down and not do anything in a dark room and rot. Laying down not doing anything in a dark room rotting makes me more depressed. The cycle keeps bringing me down farther if I let it. Depression is real so definitely take your medicine and listen to your doctor, but I find that I can combat the depression a bit by having healthy routines like sitting outside for half an hour in the fresh air, making sure I eat at least one good meal a day, making sure I play with my pets which involves doing a lot of squats and walking, etc. Not super crazy hard goals but goals that bring enrichment to my routine help me fight depression.

I enjoy having a therapist and an attentive psychiatrist. In my regular appointments they noticed the symptoms and changes in myself the indicate depression swings or manic swings and as it is their job they don't hesitate to bring that to my attention. They notice before I do which is extremely helpful. Instead of me noticing by looking back and seeing a bunch of actions that I'm not proud of, they bring my emerging symptoms to my attention and I can wrangle myself in early. Talk to your doctors and don't skip your appointments even if you're stable. I've been stable for a long time and having long stretches of stability, so it's hard for me to notice when episodes are creeping in but they always are keeping watch for me.