I was asked to make this comment a main thread:

The original poster said that he preferred high functional although depressed to being non-functional. And that he did best when he was active.

You are on target. Hypo-arousal and trauma caused depression merge, with severe depression being the lower end of hypoarousal, above collapse.

This form of depression basically is all your emotions are cool to luke warm. You don't get excited, or even interested in much of anything. Intellectually you function normally. You just can't come up with a reason to bother. You can manage if you have some habits. E.g. you go to work and write programs every day. You don't want to, but you don't want not to. And it brings in a paycheque.

Trauma induced depression or hypo-arousal isn't like regular depression. In common depression, the cause is a biochemical one, and you have the wrong amount of some neurotransmitter -- often not enough serotonin. For reasons I don't pretend to understand (can someone fill in this blank...) anti-depressants for normal depression often have atypical interactions with trauma survivors, and either don't work, or work backwards (make it worse) or have interesting side effects.

What follows is a boiler plate answer that I use when it might be appropriate. You will find it in very similar forums from me all over the CPTSD* subreddits.

You are spot on about activity.

Sounds like you are in hypoarousal most of the time. Been there. Done that. Got the t-shirt. Google that, and also "Window of Tolerance"

Ways to get out of Hypo.

Below is a boilerplate I use when appropriate. You will find the exact text sprinkled on a bunch of subreddits.

Ways to raise your arousal levels:

Good: Any form of physical exercise. Can be as light as walking. I walk 6 miles a day in winter, and have a very physical job in summer. But running, swimming, skipping rope also work. Heavier exercise (enough to get you breathing hard) works better. Weight lifting, chopping wood, hurling tires.

Better: Any form of exercise that also uses your brain. I climb trees. Rock Climbing, trampoline, parkour training, surfing, standing paddle board, trail biking, skateboard, long board would be good. kayaking, canoeing, sailing, especially in the ocean where you have to figure currents too. Active sports like soccer, hockey, basketball, water polo, squash, badminton. Pickup games are best, little bench time. Avoid sports where you end up standing around or sitting on the bench a lot. (I'm looking at you, Baseball)

Best: Any form of exercise that involves learning a new skill or pushing your present skill.

Bester: If it also has a scare element.

Meditation: Becoming more aware of your body. Mindfulness. Dual awareness. This will help if you wake something up and start getting flashbacks.

Certain breathing patterns: Find these in the same department as Meditation.

Being outside in the sun

Vitamin D: Try 2-5 thousand IU/day. Takes a month.

Music: I find that music with a strong beat just a bit faster than I can comfortably walk to helps. Songs that jerk tears from your eyes are good too. I've recently added Taiko drumming. (Japanese in origin) Complex percussion delivered very loud.)

Learn a musical instrument: Music teachers are cheaper than therapists.

Cold showers: You don't have to start cold. In my climate I can't take full cold yet, as our well water temp is about 40 F. The cold part doesn't have to be long. 1 minute is lots. Enough to have a solid set of goose bumps and raise your pulse.

Mild pain: Rock in your shoe levels. Rough clothing

Physical contact with someone you like. Holding hands, hugs, kisses, massage, tickling, pillow fights, making love.

Anything scary: That's why those physical things like rock climbing and white water canoeing help.

Anything that makes you feel vulnerable: These will also help with shame. If you are naturally modest, take your shirt off in a park. (It took me 10 years to be anywhere outside the bathroom barefoot. Recently I walked 6 miles on a country road at 0 C with a wind, in shorts and no shirt. If it's too soon for that, try wearing daring clothes. Bright red shirts. Out of style ties. Thrift stores are good for this. You can start small: Neon green watch strap. Pink shoelaces in white sneakers. Change your hair style. Try a Mohawk. If you have light hair, try coloured spikes. Start conversations in grocery stores. Be the first to say "I love you" in a relationship. (I'll try this when I have clue what "love" means)

Anything that requires a committment to others. I just picked up a 4 month old puppy.

This sort of thing is really hard to do at first, so you probably need to get well into your Window of Emotional Tolerance before it's effective. Often even considering these activities will get your heart racing.

All of these require effort to do, will power that is hard to come by when hypo. Give this message to a friend, and ask him to be your butt kicker.