The seasonal angle is another good thing to pursue. Vitamin D helps people battle SAD. I seem to recall that you live in VA, where days are longer, but still.
Chronic depression is a complex thing, and tiny adjustments up and down make a difference.
Very true. But when one is in the grip of depression, summoning the energy to do all of those things one knows, intellectually, would help seems insurmountable. It doesn’t do any good to suggest to a person who suffers from depression that they just need more willpower. That just feeds into a lifelong pattern of self-denigration. Trust me on that one.