The Thin Line Between Laziness And Depression

Dec 27, 2018

Everyone needs the occasional lazy day where you just sit around watching Netflix marathons and order Chinese takeout. Maybe, you put off some chores or just sleep in on Saturday or Sunday.

Whether you work inside or outside the home, such moments of downtime is much needed to decompress after a long, hard week. But, what happens when that occasional lazy weekend turns into every weekend?

What happens when it extends into the week? What happens when it goes on week after week? Is it laziness, or is it depression? The answer may surprise you.

It’s quite easy for the lay to confuse laziness and depression. Outsiders see a person disinterested in the activities they once enjoyed, who’s weight and appetite fluctuates, lacking energy and looking sluggish, complaining of tiredness and sleeplessness, isn’t very productive any longer, or who seems to not be able to concentrate on simple daily tasks.

Depending on how versed they are on depression, witnessing such characteristics and behaviors often lead people to perhaps wrongly assume a depressed person is lazy or a lazy person is depressed. Sometimes it’s all just a matter of someone being lazy, but other times it really can be a much darker and more dangerous matter.

If you’re wondering if you’re depressed or just suffering a lazy streak from an issue like burnout or an overloaded plate, you might want to consider the choice factor. Look at the line of thinking behind your choices. Are chores purposefully put off because you just don’t feel like doing it and would rather be doing something with less effort, or are you putting chores off because you feel mentally and physically incapable of doing them and putting forth any effort?

Depressed people most often aren’t choosing laziness. The choice to do or not do often feels out of their control. Instead of rationalizing why they will put something off, they’ll often simply avoid thinking about it altogether. After all, thinking about the undone and unaccomplished brings them heightened anxiety, fear, sadness, guilt, and stress.

On the other hand, most all of us will experience episodes of laziness for a day or so. There’s a choice there to do nothing or do something easier and more fun. These episodes of presumed laziness become worrisome when they last longer that a few days, though. The American Psychiatric Association defines depression as lasting at least two weeks. It’s only at this point that a clinician will diagnose someone with depression.

Experts, such as licensed clinical social worker Laura D. Miller, commonly explain that criticizing someone for being lazy is a character judgment. In most cases, outsiders can’t see beyond the mental veil to make such a harsh judgment. Plus, making such an assumption rarely helps anyone understand the why behind a person not doing what’s expected or demanded of them within their life.

In reality, stereotypical “lazy behaviors” could involve a number of facets - fear of failure, fear of success, abuse, attention-seeking, a genuine need for nurturing and love, a physical health ailment, exhaustion, or depression.

If you notice lazy-like actions within yourself or those you care about, you might want to investigate and observe further before just attributing it to laziness. It could be signaling depression, which is a dangerous health issue that can lead to self-destructive behaviors.

You’re already sad, right? The last thing you need is harsh judgments and criticism adding to that sadness. What you should know is that you aren’t alone.

Back in 2016, Caitlin Ainsworth shared with The Mighty what it was like for her when others mistook her depression for laziness. She described finally finding the courage to get out of bed hours after her alarm chimed. She’d use the bathroom, maybe eat something, and immediately go back to the safety of her bed as an escape from the monsters surrounding her and invading her head.

Ainsworth said that people assumed her life was easy and she was just lazy, which only made her sink further into the thoughts that she wasn’t working hard enough and was a mess of disappointment. Her plea was for others to simply understand her efforts and improvements, and that she wasn’t just lazy.

It’s a plight shared by thousands upon thousands of individuals struggling with depression as they battle labels, stigmas, and judgments.

If you’re on the judging end of the equation, you should know that depression isn’t always visible. Introverts will keep their pain and suffering hidden. From the appearance of rudeness to laziness, the outward symptoms of depression mirror so many other benign and chosen behaviors that it’s all too easy to mistake or dismiss the signs that someone is depressed.

Look back over the past two weeks and answer these nine questions.

1. Are the things you once enjoyed, felt obligated to do, or took pleasure in doing uninteresting to you now?
2. Are you experiencing feelings of hopelessness or sadness?
3. Have you experienced either difficulty falling or staying asleep or sleeping too long or too often?
4. Have you noticed a drastic appetite change in eating too much, too little, too often, or not often enough?
5. Are your energy levels low, leaving you feeling fatigued and drained?
6. Is it difficult to concentrate on even the most basic of tasks?
7. Do you have feelings of failure? Do you feel like you’re a disappointment? Do you feel like you’re letting others down?
8. Have those around you noticed your actions and speech being slower or discombobulated?
9. Have you had thoughts of harming yourself?

Add the points for each answer to the above nine questions.

• No = 0 points each
• Several days = 1 point each
• Over half the days = 2 points each
• Almost every single day = 3 points each

After adding up all your answers, you should have a possible score of 0 through 27. You can use this number as a helpful tool to determine if you might be suffering from depression:

• 20-27 = possible major to severe depression
• 15-19 = possible moderate to severe depression
• 10-14 = possible moderate depression
• 5-9 = possible mild depression
• 0-4 = possible minimal to insignificant depression

Again, this calculation should never be used in place of consulting your healthcare provider if you even remotely suspect depression. It’s a guide to help distinguish the difference between possible depression versus laziness, not a diagnostic tool.

Are you suffering from depression that others have mislabeled as being lazy? What’s your score on the chart and do you plan to contact your healthcare provider to discuss treatment options? Tell us your thoughts, questions, and stories in the comment section, and be sure to pass this article along if you felt it was helpful and informative.

Our content is created to the best of our knowledge, yet it is of general nature and cannot in any way substitute an individual consultation by your doctor. Your health is important to us!