Don't want to do anything? Is it depression? Psychology: Not necessarily. Maybe you are simply lazy.

Last week, a friend told me that he was depressed because he didn't want to do anything. I replied that I don't want to do anything, just want to eat and sleep, sleep and eat, and cycle back and forth every day.

She added: Help me find a depression test and I'll prove it to you! So I threw her a self-rating depression scale. Turns out there was no depression at all.

She still won't give up: I want to go to the hospital, and I want a doctor to prove to you that I am really depressed!

So I cut a picture for her, which is the laboratory sheet when she first went to a specialist hospital. When she saw more than a dozen psychological evaluations and several biochemical indicators tests, the total cost was in the early 1000, she said to me: How expensive! Then I'm not depressed!

Finally, I gave her an aunt's smile and replied: Depression can't tolerate you. After all, you are too lazy to be depressed.

Of course, this is just a joke, and the topic of depression is very serious.

The reason why I told her this is because many people pull out "depression" because of laziness; Others really can't tell what is laziness and what is depression. Of course, laziness and depression are also related. Let's talk about the difference between laziness and depression today.

There are indeed some people with depression who just feel a little lazy at first, and don't want to get up in the morning, go to school or go to work. On the surface, it is no different from laziness. But in fact, the deep motivation of laziness and depression is completely different.

Let's recall the laziness in your life:

Let's look at the state of depression:

After this comparison, is it clearer?

Laziness is essentially a choice, but you choose laziness and procrastination. You may not want to admit this statement, after all, no one wants to choose lazy people, which will cause shame.

But this is not necessary. After all, people are lazy. Like I said, I just want to sleep and eat all the time. It's not just a joke, and I'm not ashamed. In essence, you and I are the same on the issue of laziness.

On the other hand, depression is not. Their laziness is beyond their control. They may have done nothing at all, no house to clean up, no ghost electricity bill to pay, but they are depressed.

According to the research results, there is indeed a relationship between depressive episodes and life stress. But there are also many depressed people who can't trace back to specific stress events in their lives. This is why people with depression feel inexplicable pain, and sometimes they get mad. I believe that even if there are reasonable reasons, everyone will have a better understanding of depression.

According to Freud's theory, people are born with instinct, and it is this instinct that drives people to make continuous progress, live hard and pursue their dreams. Laziness is not without this motivation, it is only a temporary delay of motivation; But for depression, this instinct is gradually weakening, replaced by an internal destructive instinct, which gradually consumes itself.

Therefore, laziness and depression are essentially different motives, even though they don't seem to be very different-they just don't like to move.

Laziness is only temporary in most cases. After all, our life is very stressful and there are many things to deal with. It's normal to be lazy occasionally. Usually in a day or two, the laziness will pass, and the things that should be dealt with will still be dealt with. You will soon clean the house and pay the electricity bill. After all, you are a person who likes cleanliness, and you are also a person who likes to chase dramas. I can't do it without power.

But depression is different. It won't last for a day or two, but it will haunt a person for weeks or even longer. Therefore, for the diagnosis of depression, a person needs to lose motivation for more than 2 weeks. Most people with depression have been suffering for weeks before seeking help. They feel "lazy"-unmotivated, lonely and even desperate.

These negative behaviors have nothing to do with your original behavior style and personality. Even a person who never procrastinates will fall into this seemingly lazy loss of motivation.

Of course, there are other indicators besides losing motivation, and the diagnosis of depression is a systematic project.

So in the difference between laziness and depression, duration is also a very critical difference.

It would be great if there is a standard that can tell us what is pure laziness and what seems to be laziness is actually a manifestation of depression. Unfortunately, at present, there is no such thing. I still have to find it myself in my life.

If you think that "laziness" has lasted for several weeks or even longer and affected your life, it may be a sign of depression. Judging from its strength and duration, it's time for you to decide whether to see a doctor.

In short, laziness is laziness and has nothing to do with depression; "Laziness" associated with depression is not laziness.

Wen | @ ostrich speaks