Friday, March 29, 2024

No Desire To Do Anything Depression

Impact Of Doing Nothing

The 6 Signs of High Functioning Depression | Kati Morton

Suppose all you feel like doing is lying on the couch and watching Netflix rather than going outside and living more often than not. Or maybe even doing basic daily tasks like washing dishes making the bed or tidying your room seem like too much to accept. In that case, there may be an underlying mental health condition negatively affecting you. These feelings can be situational, such as if you experienced a break-up or are sick. They can also be more long-term in the form of depression, where those feelings of low mood, hopelessness, and sadness creep up.

Do you feel drained of emotional and physical energy? Or maybe you dont feel like doing anything? Is it hard to get out of bed? Once you’ve started the day, are you fighting to get things done? What if it goes beyond these moments and you have no motivation to do anything? These are awful feelings and signal a lot of stress, and you don’t have to be alone without any help by your side. There are successful tools to help you find and develop your sense of motivation and start living again.

What You Can Do

First, you may want to visit your primary care doctor, especially if these feelings are unusual for you or have lasted much of the time for days or for a few weeks Your doctor will be able to perform some diagnostic testing and blood work on you to rule out an underlying health issue to get to the root cause of what’s causing these unmotivated thoughts and feelings.

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The Risk Of Isolation

It can sometimes be hard to explain your thoughts and feelings to others. You might find it difficult to talk about your depression and instead you might cut yourself off from other people. The more overwhelming your symptoms, the more isolated and lonely you might become.

Without treatment and support, depression can have an impact on your relationships, work, finances and overall health, so it’s important to get help as early as possible. See our pages on treatment and support for more information.

“It feels like I’m stuck under a huge grey-black cloud. It’s dark and isolating, smothering me at every opportunity.”

How Do You Motivate Yourself To Do Something You Don’t Want To Do

Self-will is strong, and sometimes it may be weak when you don’t feel like doing something. For this reason, you may have found it difficult to motivate yourself to do certain crucial things. In some cases, your lack of self-will may result from substance abuse, which is detrimental to one’s behavioral health. For instance, if you need to go to a close friend’s birthday party, but you don’t want to, that may need some extra motivation. Sometimes, it may be as little as getting house chores done. No matter what it is that you’re having a hard time with, you can motivate yourself. So, when you find yourself saying, “I do not want to do anything,” it’s crucial that you try to think differently.

In most cases, self-motivation is effective when the root cause of your feeling isn’t a medically reviewed mental illness like depression. In simple terms, depression is a mental illness characterized by persistently depressed feelings, mood, or loss of interest. Depression may also be due to traumatic stress or substance abuse that affects one’s behavioral health. You may need to consult a therapist first to diagnose any mental illness and provide mental health treatment. A good idea of helpful tools for self-motivation is reading a book. It doesn’t have to be one with long stories you may go through a short one.

Recommended Reading: Is Depression Good For You

Ask Yourself What You Want

Be honest with your feelings and emotions, as well as what you need from others. If your cluttered house is causing you to feel as though you cannot invite people over, confide in one person you trust, and ask for help. There is no shame in that. Everyone needs a bit of help once in a while, and asking for help will only make you a stronger and more confident person in the end.

Give Yourself Permission To Do Nothing

Depression Not Wanting To Do Anything

I could tell you to take a shower or choose one small thing to get done or brush your teeth but when I can’t get myself to do anything, sometimes I just need to honor that. When you have no desire to do anything and you have the freedom to actually not do anything, why not just enjoy it?

Jokes aside, I’ve found that when I give myself permission to do nothing for a few days, I end up bouncing back that much quicker and stronger.

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What Are The Signs And Symptoms Of Depression In Men

Different men have different symptoms, but some common depression symptoms include:

  • Anger, irritability, or aggressiveness
  • Feeling anxious, restless, or on the edge
  • Loss of interest in work, family, or once-pleasurable activities
  • Problems with sexual desire and performance
  • Feeling sad, “empty,” flat, or hopeless
  • Not being able to concentrate or remember details
  • Feeling very tired, not being able to sleep, or sleeping too much
  • Overeating or not wanting to eat at all
  • Thoughts of suicide or suicide attempts
  • Physical aches or pains, headaches, cramps, or digestive problems
  • Inability to meet the responsibilities of work, caring for family, or other important activities
  • Engaging in high-risk activities
  • A need for alcohol or drugs
  • Withdrawing from family and friends or becoming isolated

Not every man who is depressed experiences every symptom. Some men experience only a few symptoms while others may experience many.

You Are Not Doing Things You Are Good At

We usually enjoy things that we are good at, or that catch our interests. If you never wanted to be a pilot instead of a software engineer, there are quite great chances that you may start to lose interest in everything slowly. You need to start doing things that you are good at. Find your strengths or things that you are good at and pursue them. It is never too late to start from scratch.

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The Key Differences Between Laziness & Depression

People often confuse depression with laziness, yet these are two distinct constructs. Laziness can be mostly defined as being in a state of inactivity as a result of an individuals unwillingness to perform a task despite having the capacity to do so. Laziness can occur periodically and is believed to be more of a mental state, deliberate act or personal choice. Some experts theorize that laziness is a personality trait or character deficit, while others believe laziness is a behavioral sign of an underlying concern. Regardless, laziness often carries a derogatory connotation.1

Depression also bears some stigma and is falsely viewed as a problem related to a persons will. Depressed individuals may appear lazy due to underlying symptoms of depression such as lack of motivation and energy. However, depression is a psychiatric disorder accompanied with many other pervasive features like deep sadness, inability to feel pleasure, a desire to isolate, apathy and more.

Depression is not a personal option or a transient emotional response. Instead, it is a debilitating condition that can intensify and harm your overall wellbeing and daily functioning. Moreover, depression commonly requires professional intervention and not just will power. 2, 3

Can Depression Be A Symptom Of Other Mental Health Problems

What is Anxious Depression?

Depression can be a part of several mental health problems, such as:

If feelings of low mood or suicidal thoughts are the reason you first speak to your doctor about your mental health, your GP might offer you treatment for depression without realising that you are also experiencing other symptoms.

If you think you’re experiencing other symptoms, you can talk to your doctor about this to make sure you’re getting the right treatment to help you. See our pages on seeking help for a mental health problem for information on how to make sure your voice is heard, and what you can do if you’re not happy with your doctor.

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What Risks And Complications Can Depression Cause

Having depression can cause other problems. It can affect your mental health as well as your physical health, and it may affect other areas of your life too. For example, depression may cause:

  • disturbed sleep,
  • difficulties with work and your hobbies,
  • difficulties keeping contact with friends and families, or
  • suicidal thoughts or thoughts of self-harming.

Some people might also drink more alcohol to try and relieve depression. However, as we said in the previous section above, this can actually make depression worse.

If you have any of these problems, speak to your GP.

Social Media And Motivation: Not Motivated And Low Self

Some people have benefitted from taking a social media break. They find that spending too much time on Facebook gives you a loss of drive, and if not a loss of drive, it’s just a time-waster.

Sometimes, breaks don’t work. What may work is curating your feed to prevent posts that make you lose drive and instead encourage posts that help you raise the stakes of your own life. Look to good, wholesome posts that help you find the drive. If not find the drive, then stop posts that make you lose drive. Remember, there are other ways to communicate. Email address, in-person, or on the phone. If you’re not feeling social media, you don’t have an obligation to try it if you’re not feeling it. To some, online relationships don’t work, and that’s not a bad thing.

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Why Dont I Want To Do Anything Anymore

Have you ever been so tired, overwhelmed, or just fed up that you thought, I give up, I dont want to do anything.? If you have, youre not alone. Many of us have experienced times in which we have felt so overwhelmed with so much to do that we felt, if not at least for a moment, that, I dont want to do anything.

There are common factors that may contribute to a lack of motivation or desire. Some of those factors are medical, and some may have to do with underlying mental health issues or substance use, or it could be a case of burn out. In this article, we talk about how to get past the feelings of frustration, low motivation, and loss of interest and help you figure out what to do when you dont want to do, well, anything.

Boredom And Lack Of Desire

Many people come to the point of feeling like I dont want to do anything anymore out of simple boredom, lack of desire, burn out, or any number of other reasons. If youre experiencing this feeling, its normal to take some downtime for yourself and rest, and its perfectly okay and in fact, its very important for your wellbeing to do so. In our increasingly fast-paced world filled with daily responsibilities and expectations, taking some downtime for yourself is not only normal, but also highly recommended.

Depression And Lack Of Motivation

Some common symptoms of depression include:

  • Sleeping too little or too much
  • Eating too little or too much
  • Feelings of sadness or hopelessness
  • Social isolation

Apathy Signs And Symptoms

Lack Of Motivation At Work Depression

You may be able to see the signs of apathy in yourself. Or a friend or family member might point out that you don’t seem as interested or engaged as you used to be.

The doctor might diagnose you with apathy if you’re no longer motivated and you:

  • Lack the effort or energy to do everyday things
  • Depend on other people to plan your activities
  • Have no desire to learn new things, meet new people, or have new experiences
  • Don’t care about your own problems
  • Feel no emotions when good or bad things happen

To count as apathy, your symptoms must be severe enough or happen often enough to affect your social life, job, or other parts of your life. And they can’t be due to drugs, alcohol, or any other substance you take.

Also Check: Emory Treatment Resistant Depression Clinic

Confusion And Lack Of Direction

Sometimes it can be difficult to pinpoint exactly when you started feeling unfulfilled or why you may be struggling with a lack of purpose.

Feeling like you have little direction in life may have slowly built up over time, and you may find it difficult to identify a specific reason for these experiences. This can be confusing and upsetting, especially if you feel that everything in your life is how you envisioned and planned.

Because of this lack of clarity, you may feel inclined to avoid sharing your feelings with others, and fear that you will be misunderstood. This can cause you to isolate yourself and bury yourself deeper into your thoughts.

Common Signs And Symptoms Of Depression

Here are some common signs of depression you may experience.

How you might feel

  • guilty, worthless and down on yourself
  • isolated and unable to relate to other people
  • finding no pleasure in life or things you usually enjoy
  • a sense of unreality
  • avoiding social events and activities you usually enjoy
  • self-harming or suicidal behaviour
  • difficulty speaking, thinking clearly or making decisions
  • losing interest in sex
  • difficulty remembering or concentrating on things
  • using more tobacco, alcohol or other drugs than usual
  • difficulty sleeping, or sleeping too much
  • feeling tired all the time
  • no appetite and losing weight, or eating too much and gaining weight
  • physical aches and pains with no obvious physical cause
  • moving very slowly, or being restless and agitated.

“It felt like I was really tired, all the time. I had no energy or emotion about anything.”

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Other Reasons Why You Might Be Struggling With Laziness

Understanding the possible reasons for your difficulties with laziness can detach some of the shame and stigma that is often associated with it. Laziness can very well be a symptom of something else. Closely examining where your struggles with laziness stem from can unmask the true cause and give you an opportunity to effectively address and resolve/treat it.

Below are some things to consider about why you might be feeling lazy:1, 2, 4, 5

  • Individuals with ADHD can develop chronic avoidance behaviors like procrastination to activities/tasks they find boring, too difficult and/or frustrating to complete.
  • Avolition, also known as a total lack of motivation, is a symptom seen in chronic depression, schizophrenia and other mental conditions. This symptom elicits a total lack of interest in initiating or completing tasks including simple ones/activities of daily living such as showering etc.
  • Toxic stress can trigger a mental/physical decline causing sleep issues, anxious mood and a variety of health issues which lead to poor daily routines and general performance.
  • Medical conditions like chronic fatigue syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and others can cause significant decrease in personal, occupational, and/or social activities.
  • Dissatisfaction and/or purposelessness on a task or with life in general
  • Lifestyle deficiencies such as poor nutrition, sleep issues, lack of exercise, substance abuse and so forth

When The Blahs Are A Mental Health Concern

This could be why you’re depressed or anxious | Johann Hari

So when does low motivation go from a normal stage you are going through, to a mental health issue? When it has gone on for too long, and when it is jeopardising your day-to-day living.

Look for things like the following:

  • its gone on for six weeks or more
  • it is worsening or unchanged
  • you are losing interest in talking to friends and family
  • your low motivation is accompanied by increasingly negative thinking
  • you are having suicidal thoughts
  • you arent sure anymore why you lack motivation .

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Persistent Irritability Or Mood Swings

Depression can cause us to experience outbursts and mood swings. One minute were angry, the next were crying uncontrollably or we shut down and go numb. Changes in our mood can switch in a moments notice. Sometimes these changes can be triggered by small or insignificant challenges, while other times they can come about unprovoked. If you notice a pattern of irritability or mood swings that last more than a few days, it may be linked to depression.

Limit Use Of Electronics Starting At Night

Our electronic devices have become one of our main windows to the world and to each other. When our brains become used to reward cues coming mainly from our phones and computers, it can dull our ability to feel enjoyment from non-electronic experiences, Felger says.

Felger says to slowly reduce your electronic use in the hours leading up to bedtime, so you can reap some of the benefits to support sleep as well.

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Information For Family Carers And Friends

You can get support if you are a carer, friend or family member of someone living with depression.

Being a carer might mean you can claim certain benefits that might help you and the person you care for. For more information, please see the Mental Health and Money Advice services website:www.mentalhealthandmoneyadvice.org/en/welfare-benefits/what-benefits-are-available-for-mental-health-carers/

You could also get in touch with carer support groups or sibling support groups. You can search for local groups in your area online or ask your GP.

You can ask your local authority for a carers assessment if you need more practical support to help care for someone.

As a carer you should be involved in decisions about care planning. There are rules about information sharing and confidentiality which may make it difficult for you to get all the information you need in some circumstances.

You can find out more information about:

  • Carers assessments by clicking here.
  • Confidentiality and information sharing by clicking here.

How can I support the person that I care for?

You might find it easier to support someone with depression if you understand their symptoms, treatment and self-management skills. You can use this to support them to get help and stay well.

Below are some initial suggestions for providing practical day to day support to someone with depression.

You can find out more information about:

You can find more information about:

Website: www.web.ntw.nhs.uk/selfhelp/

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