Coping Mechanisms For When I Get the Bad Feelings

As long as I'm being open about my experiences with mental illnesses, I figured I would go ahead and list some of my coping mechanisms for how to deal with depressive spells and anxiety attacks.

A spread from one of my journals

• Journaling. Nothing is as big a help to me as my journal is. I've been journaling for over a year now and I have no idea how I survived without it. My journals are a physical manifestation of what's going on in my brain at any given moment, and feeling like I'm creating something is a huge help!
• Calling a friend. It needs to be a phone call, not a text message, and it needs to be someone I trust enough to call when in that state. But sometimes what I really need is to hear a friendly voice.
• Watching documentaries about 19th-century immigration to New York. Don't ask why. I don't fully understand this myself. There's no reason for this to be so comforting to me, and yet sometimes sitting down and watching the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th episodes of PBS's "New York" documentary series is the only way I can help myself put things in perspective.
• Meditation.  I know it sounds cheesy but it really does help, the breathing techniques I've learned through meditation work wonders.
• My 'rainy day tag' on tumblr. My tumblr dashboard can be really bad when I get in a Mood, but when I'm not in a Mood and I see something that would help me, I'll reblog it with that tag. For me, it's mostly inspirational posts and cute animals, but if you have a tumblr or pinterest (a pinterest board would be fantastic for this purpose) it could be whatever helps you.
• Crafting. It's the same concept as the journaling, in that creating can be helpful. It helps to feel useful and it can be a good way to throw yourself into something and get rid of excess anxious energy.
• Playing Pokemon Go. I know, I know, it sounds dumb, but the game's system of hatching eggs and going to new places to catch new pokemon gives depressed individuals an incentive to pull themselves out of bed and going on a nice walk, which can be majorly helpful.
• Reading a childhood favourite book. When I was young, my favourite books were the Anne of Green Gables series. (The first three are in the public domain now so you can download them to an e-reader for free!) I still love the books to this day, I love the happy writing style, and Anne's ever-present optimism, even with all the trouble she gets herself into, is endearing. Bonus - it's also a historical series (it takes place in the Victorian and Edwardian eras). It's really nice to be able to escape the modern era sometimes. So sometimes I just need to put on some classical music, light a lavender scented candle, heat up some peppermint tea, and crack open Anne of the Island.

These are just some things that work for me. They may or may not work for you. If not, what are some things that have?
-Nym-