You’re Lazy Because You Have Too Much To Do
When you work remotely, you are inundated with work from every angle. Your computer. Your phone. Your Apple watch pings you when your Zoom meeting is starting. It’s too much.
I’ve noticed many of my clients respond to this experience of overwhelm with what looks like laziness. They hide. They pull the covers over their head and use their avoidance and unresponsiveness as a way of saying, “I’m overwhelmed.”
Resisting/postponing/avoiding Situations May Be Due To Fear Of:
- The perceived enormity of whats involved and entailed with something.
- Exhaustion while doing something.
- Failing at something.
- Missing out on something else.
Fear is less tangible and more stigmatizing than laziness, so many people are happy to just accept the lazy label instead of drilling down to the root cause of the fear that may be holding them back. If Im lazy or resistant, it would seem I simply lack ambition and need to buckle down, stop my bad habits, get on track, and take care of things. However, if Im afraid, it becomes necessary to dig deeper and unpack the cause of my fear, face it and work through ita much more difficult and potentially painful process!
Clients who struggle with idleness are not resistant, difficult or unwilling to change. They simply do not feel prepared, skilled, or safe enough to do what is being asked or expected of them. This is why labeling someone as lazy or resistant doesnt help him or her solve a problem or achieve a goal. The stigma, misdiagnosis, and vague solution associated with such a label is seldom helpful.
So, whats the alternative?
If a person cares about getting something done, yet they repeatedly fail to do so, its clearly because there are barriers in their wayoften, a variety of barriersand they need support in removing those barriers to move forward.Devon Price, PhD.
How To Tell If You Are Depressed Or Lazy
Well, this is easy. You can quickly differentiate between depression and laziness by taking a few quizzes or tests online.
Here is the link to a few tests
If either of these quizzes suggests that what you are going through are depression and just laziness, it might be rue. Hence the first thing you do is visit a mental health professional. They will assess your signs and symptoms and diagnose your scientifically. For better reasons, you can skip the part of taking online tests, and directly visit a therapist or a psychiatrist. They will make a better judgment and tell you if you are depressed or lazy.
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First We Need To Retire Terminology Like Laziness And Resistance
Fear should be one of the first considerations when someone is struggling with inaction! Many people enter talk therapy with complaints of demotivation , laziness or resistance, only to learn that their concerns are more complicated than they realized. It may actually be a mood disorder such as depression or anxiety that accounts for a lack of motivation.
When Laziness Paves The Way For Depression
If we want to understand how laziness can pave the way for depression, we need to look at this condition from a slightly different angle.
When we think about depression, we often imagine a sad, pessimistic individual who doesnt find joy in anything and holds a grim perspective on life.
But thats not always the case.
Sometimes, depression develops in a relatively atypical manner making it difficult to spot using traditional diagnostic criteria.
Experts call it masked depression because it hides behind somatic symptoms that can easily be mistaken for medical conditions.
For instance, you may experience back pain, headache, and tension of the gluteal muscles, which create an overall sense of physical pressure and exhaustion.
As a result, you are more likely to spend the day doing the bare minimum and waiting for the pain to go away so that you can be more productive.
And the more you give in to this feeling and postpone your tasks for the sake of comfort, the more you contribute to your sense of helplessness.
A bad day turns into a bad week which turns into a bad month, and without realizing it, you drift into a state of comfortable idleness.
But the most painful part is that, even if you realize theres something much darker behind your apparent lack of motivation and energy, it will take a considerable amount of effort to recover your happy and productive self.
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Early Warning Signs Of Depression
The early warning signs of depression may be confused with laziness by the person suffering or those around them. For example, many people with depression have heard someone tell them youre just lazy! or to stop wasting your time.
Such demands and criticisms can be hard to hear, particularly because the person suffering may not yet know that they have depression but have begun to find it difficult to engage in regular daily life.
You might be experiencing the early stages of depression if you experience some or all of the following:
- Losing interest in things that were once fun and enjoyable, including hobbies, social life, and sex
- Sadness, a low mood that persists and influences your attitude and behavior in your daily life
- Social withdrawal hiding away from friends and family members, avoiding their efforts to make contact with you
- Appetite changes eating more or less than usual, finding comfort in food, avoiding food as much as possible, binge-eating, turning to quick energy foods such as snacks and other sugary foods
- Changes in sleeping pattern sleep issues such as insomnia or trouble staying asleep, sleeping more than usual, sleeping until late in the day
- Tiredness, fatigue a lack of energy and motivation, difficulty engaging in with daily tasks and responsibilities
- Poor concentration and attention difficulty focusing on tasks, feelings of confusion and disorientation, decline in work or school performance, poor memory, short term memory loss
Everything Gets Slowed Down
Depression can cause everything to go into slow motion. People often explain depression as a numb-ness, as though were walking through treacle. We may walk slowly, talk slowly and think slowly. It can take us a lot more time to do things than it takes other people. We arent being lazy if we dont manage to pack as much into our day as other people do. Its just that everything we do takes longer, as we fight the self-doubt and the lack of energy, and there are only so many hours in the day.
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Laziness Or Depression: 7 Life
There is hope,
Depression is a mood disorder that can hamper your normal lifestyle. Sometimes it gets so bigger that people commit suicide.
On the contrary, laziness is a break that your body or sometimes your mind demands and you cant deny it.
In this content, you will get to know what is depression and laziness, how they impact on your life, and how to be safe from them.
So lets begin .
Remember Only A Professional Can Diagnose Depression Or Other Mental Health Disorders
The purpose of this post is not to serve as a substitute for professional diagnosis. Rather, the purpose is to dispel a common misconception that people who are struggling with clinical depression can simply snap out of it. If you or someone you care about as ever been accused of being lazy consider the above signs of depression and decide if it makes sense to seek a professional diagnosis.
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Spending Most Of The Time On Social Media
It is seen that people who are depressed usually try to distract themselves by scrolling through social media or just spending most of their time on the phone playing games or doing other stuff. Using a phone constantly is also considered an activity done by a lazy person. Those who are usually lazy will be found to spend most of their time scrolling social media instead of doing something more productive. Hence this sing has been usually confused by many.
Do You Have The Ability To Do Pleasurable Activities
One of the notable differences between being lazy and depressed is the ability to enjoy things that provide pleasure. If youre lazy about doing something, you can still usually do something else that requires less effort or more enjoyable. For example, youd rather party with your friends than clean your house. Or you keep putting off cleaning your yard because youd rather binge-watch reality TV.
On the other hand, depressed people usually cant muster any enthusiasm to do things that they normally enjoy. This means that not only are you not able to clean your house, you also cant find pleasure in partying or watching your favorite shows.
Depression is a common condition associated with people struggling with substance abuse issues. If you or a loved one is having substance abuse problems, help is available.
Contact Anaheim Lighthouse today.
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Am I Depressed Lazy Or Feeling Sorry For Myself
What is the difference between depression, laziness, and self-pity?
16 September 2019
What is the difference between depression, laziness, and self-pity?
Dear Maddi,
How do I know if I’m depressed or just lazy or feeling sorry for myself?
Sincerely, Confused
Dear confused, let us have a look at these concepts separately and dig a little deeper to see if we can help you get some clarity.
Depression is a serious debilitating mental illness. It persists for more than two weeks, and it impacts multiple areas of a person’s life. Depression is often marked by ongoing feelings of sadness, hopelessness, apathy, fatigue, a fixation on past failures or self-blame, as well as thoughts of death and suicide. It is not uncommon for people with depression to think they are being “lazy” or to hear similar messaging but clinical depression is far from being lazy and it often requires psychological treatment to be managed or resolved.
To summarize, it is really the pervasive and prolonged nature of depression that distinguishes it from the momentary moments of laziness or self-pity, which are really just part of being human.
If you feel you might be struggling with depression, do not hesitate to schedule a mental health consult with Counselling and Clinical Services. Our trusted professionals will be happy to help you.
Difficulty Getting Out Of The Bed
It is not just lazy people who find it difficult to get out of bed in the morning. Who does not love an extra hour of sleep right? However, people, who are depressed find it difficult to get out of bed every single day even if they want to do so. They wake up in the morning only to dread the fact that they have to live one more day. Whilst those who are lazy just want to snuggle and sleep more. They only want to avoid any sort of hard work. This particular sign is confused usually as a sign of laziness by those who do not know that you are suffering from depression.
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Youre Angry And Bitter
If the slightest unfortunate event brings you on the brink of an angry outburst, or if being gloomy and bitter has become your everyday mood, chances are you may be struggling with depression.
Experts speculate that around 50% of all people dealing with depression feel angry, bitter, and grumpy most of the day.
This Post Has 4 Comments
Both laziness and depression are physically caused. Lack of proper ATP generation is linked to both.
Yes, Rebecca, laziness is a problem and can be caused by a number of physical issues, usually hormonal or chemically based imbalances. Thats why I said that it is important to understand the differences. You could be medicating one issue with another issues treatments. That can cause yet more problems.
Thanks for your informative article. It scares me that now a lot of people are starting to say that they have depression, when in fact it was just a bad day. Thus, they create even more controversy regarding people who are depressed. They harm such people. Now they shout about it at every step and I dont understand why to do this. Trust me, you really wouldnt want to get this disorder. Therefore, I urge people not to attribute depression to themselves simply because you are not in the mood today.
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Youre Drinking Or Doing Drugs
People with depression often self-medicate to ease the emotional pain. If, on your lazy days, you find yourself filling the time with drugs and alcohol, then that may be a sign that youre actually depressed. Are you using substances to try to feel less depressed? To give yourself more energy and focus? Because without them, you feel numb or apathetic? These are all signs that your drug and alcohol use may be getting out-of-hand. Depression and substance use disorder dont mix well, so if this describes your situation, then its important that you seek professional help right away.
Reasons Of Laziness In Life
Laziness is not a disorder its more like natural behavior. But, it becomes a disease when a person is always wasting their time. Here are some influential causes of laziness:
1. Demotivation
People tend to spend more time at leisure if they are demotivated by someone elses behavior or talks. It feels distressed to do work, and they waste time doing nothing. Scolding a preschooler too much for not doing homework for one day may cause the child to avoid studying every day.
2. Delaying Tasks
Procrastination causes a person to pause a task instead of doing it now. They just left the work to do it late. Storing up duties for later will only make your list of chores long and harder to accomplish.
3. Getting Distracted
Intentionally or unintentionally, some people love to make others suffer. When you are super concentrated on a task, even a tiny distraction may make you lose interest in that work. Some software companies use noise-proof office environments so that their programmers can work peacefully.
4. Self-Confidence
Confidence can make a huge difference in starting and completing a big task. Sometimes having less confidence can make a person dwell or quit a job after going halfway. Feeling about your family, their well-being, your health, doing regular exercises, and start giving yourself value to raise that confidence level highest.
5. Unhealthy Diet
6. Not Interesting or Soul-Crushing
7. Inappropriate Decision Making
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Am I Depressed Or Lazy
Sometimes, its hard to draw a clear line between depression and laziness.
Its even harder to compare them, given that depression encompasses a whole range of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral reactions. At the same time, laziness is just an attitude that people may display for various reasons.
In my opinion, if youre struggling with this dilemma, the first thing you can do is take a closer look at yourself.
Whenever you feel stuck and confused, the only way to gain clarity is through self-reflection.
- How does laziness affect your personal and professional life?
- How many hours a day do you spend doing nothing?
- Has anyone ever complained that youre too lazy?
- Does laziness make you neglect essential household chores like taking out the trash, shopping for groceries, or paying utility bills?
- Is laziness a small pleasure you give yourself after a productive day or a way to avoid uncomfortable emotions?
- How would your life be different if you were less lazy?
To determine whether laziness is a problem or not, you need to start by looking at how this attitude impacts your day-to-day life.
How Do You Know If You Are Depressed Or Lazy
It is not always easy to tell laziness or depression apart. If activities that previously made you happy suddenly feel worthless, you are probably depressed.
Likewise, laziness may cause one not to bother with work or accomplish a regular, daily routine.
To an outsider, someone with depression can appear lazy- Click below to book your appointment with an expert and know if you are really suffering from depression.
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You No Longer Care About Your Looks
And why should you!?
Its not like youre going somewhere or meeting someone.
Eventually, you get to a point where youre too ashamed of yourself even to try to make some changes and start taking care of yourself.
But the saddest part is that people are often too quick to judge you and fail to understand that your lack of interest is not a sign of laziness but a consequence of depression.
Is Laziness A Mental Disorder
Feeling lazy is not a crime. Yet, it should not be mistaken for severe mental conditions. There is a common misconception that individuals battling depression or laziness have a personality disorder.
Generally, a personality disorder involves obsession over something or poor impulse control.
An individual obsessed with laziness tends to procrastinate or avoid doing whatever they are supposed to do at the right time. In addition, you may find them giving excuses or finding new ways to get out of a task.
This trait means that the affected individuals have poor impulse control and cannot do what is necessary because it would require too much work.
In our opinion, lazy people tend to be more of a nuisance than anything else. Although they may not hurt anyone, the annoying behavior can get on peoples nerves.
Without any doubt, it can also be frustrating living or working with individuals who never do their part in paying bills or accomplishing household tasks.
Many people who suffer from clinical depression will initially feel like theyre just being lazy- Click the button below to get an expert opinion on this.
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