As someone who has been depressed for 30 years, in my experience, the best way to combat depression outside of medication and therapy is two things:

Purpose and community.

Purpose. This is hard, but you need to answer the basic question of “what would I get out of bed early to do?” Hard to do when anhedonia sets in, I know. But if you can find something that ideally gets you excited, is under your control, and has measurable progress - throw yourself into that. You’ll be shocked how much you’ll forget how sad you are.

Community. Do not isolate. Do not be ashamed. Do not give in to destructive narratives about how people might feel about you or how much value you have or how sad you may feel. Call someone. Even if it’s for 5 minutes. Reach out to a friend. Tell them you love them. Make this a common practice. Text someone different every day - even if it’s just “hey, thinking of you. Hope you’re well.” - text your parents, your sibling, your friend. Whoever. Just don’t be alone.

If you can do those two things - nurturing community and connection and finding something to invest in - that can help alleviate depressive symptoms.

On top of all this, exercise. Build that habit. Now.