Having struggled with depression myself, one of the most beneficial things I did to improve my state of mind, other than getting medical help, was to learn to p

Having struggled with depression myself, one of the most beneficial things I did to improve my state of mind, other than getting medical help, was to learn to play an instrument. For me it continues to be extremely therapeutic and a great source of joy. Find something that you enjoy doing (ideally something you can do for the rest of your life) where there is no expectation from anyone else but yourself to improve. I think many of the people that frequent HN are driven to improve themselves, but are probably also very self critical. If you can find an activity/craft/art/sport that you find engaging and allows you to slowly grow in proficiency with over time, you may find it helpful. In terms of your workplace scenario, I'd suggest just trying to do your best given the constraints you have. While your workplace is unlikely to wholesale adopt Clojure, perhaps you can use it to solve small problems, or failing that use what you've learned about functional programming to simplify your Java code.