Am I Depressed or Just Lazy?

I’m often asked, “Am I depressed or just lazy?” It’s a legitimate question, in that many people who suffer from clinical depression will initially feel like they’re just being lazy, not wanting to get off the couch or out of bed. On the surface, the two — laziness and depression — appear to share some passing similarities. But dig just a little deeper and you can quickly determine whether you’re depressed, or are just being lazy. Depression is a serious, debilitating mental illness that impacts millions of Americans each year. It not only causes distress for the person suffering from it, but also for their loved ones and friends. For employers, it results in millions of hours of lost productivity and billions of dollars. The Key Differences Between Depression & Laziness The key point about clinical depression is that a person doesn’t want to feel that way. It is completely out of their control. They didn’t do (or failed to do) something that brought about the depression. While episodes of feeling depressed may be brought about by increased stress, generally most people with this condition can’t trace it back to anything in their life. That’s what so aggravating about depression. It hits a person from out of the blue, for no reason at all. (If there was a reason, at least maybe it would make some sense.) Laziness, on the other hand, is a clear and simple choice. Whether we admit it or not, when weR...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Depression Disorders Mental Health and Wellness Psychology Self-Help am i depressed am i depressed or lazy Chronic Laziness Clinical Depression depression quiz Source Type: blogs