Battling Depression

I have an appointment tomorrow, a psych evaluation to see a psychiatrist about my long battle with, possible, depression. I feel like its plagued me for at least a decade easily but I've never had the insurance, money, or way of getting to a doctor or psychiatrist to get help or checked on.

My girlfriend broke up with me because I wouldn't want to do anything social or go out or do much of anything besides go to work and stay on my computer. That lack of doing things made her fed up with me. That's when things hit me really hard about everything that was going wrong with me, that I was doing wrong, and that I really did need help.

I'm doing more now. I've become a part of meet up groups on a meet up website. I've gone hiking with a group already and have some more events planned. I've been spending time with friends more and writing things down in my journal. It hasn't been easy, and a lot of this really scares me.

Anyway, the point of this post is to ask the community, you, how you have been dealing with your depression, or how you've been helping your friends and loved ones who have depression. Do you have any methods that work really well for you? Are there certain things that you know about that send you on a dark road so you try to avoid? Any advice, tips, or anything on how to keep your mind positive, stay away from the bleak, and continue to give yourself hope?

TL;DR I'm battling (possible) depression and have a psych evaluation on the 12th of july (tomorrow from this posting) in order to find out if I do and if medication will be needed/wanted to help. I'm looking for advice, feedback, and help in how you battle depression.