The pleasure of being lazy is always coupled by guilt.
Whenever laziness takes over, we immediately start thinking that something is wrong with us. The urge to be lazy overwhelms us, and suddenly crazy thoughts are controlling our heads.
This makes many people wonder if laziness is a disorder or any other form of a mental illness.
Can laziness be considered a mental disorder?
Laziness isn’t a disorder or a mental illness, it’s a choice. Being lazy on purpose for a longer period of time creates a habit that is difficult to overcome. That’s why the habit of laziness makes many people associate laziness with some form of a disorder.
While it’s challenging to overcome laziness, it’s not impossible to break out with. Unlike mental disorders, lazy individuals can control laziness but choose not to. Also, it’s not something that causes pain, irritation, or other uncontrollable feelings. It means it’s a normal state of mind that’s very common for most of the population, regardless of the traits.
Unlike most disorders, individuals can realize or are aware when they’re lazy. However, instead of using that consciousness to act upon, they’re rather doing the opposite. Moreover, as laziness is not a genetic or mutational gene disorder, almost everyone can experience it at some point in their lives. Accordingly, it all boils down to whether one doesn’t want to be lazy, wants to, or doesn’t care at all.
Similar to procrastination, one can initiate laziness without any stimulants or valid reasons. For instance, laziness is a choice if one has a task to complete but does something else wholly or instead slacks off. Using these points as the basis, it’s safe to conclude that laziness is not a disorder of some sort.
Mental Disorders That Can Cause Laziness As A Side Effect
Apart from external factors and action consequences, several mental disorders can also cause laziness. In detail, the following are some of the mental illnesses that can cause laziness as a side effect:
- Depression. Due to sadness, depression can cause a lack of motivation. Accordingly, a depressed individual won’t have a reason to do things or doesn’t have the urge to do it.
- Anxiety Disorders. Most types of Anxiety Disorder can cause one to get distracted and worry or fear excessively. Consequently, it can occupy most of one’s time, resulting in inability and unwillingness to do things.
- ADHD. While children or teens suffering from Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) can still perform tasks, there are cases where the illness’s effect can hamper productivity. Due to short attention spans and impairment of executive functions, one might experience uncontrollable laziness.
- PTSD. PTSD or Posttraumatic Stress Disorder can cause someone to experience fatigue and flashbacks of the horrifying event. As a result, it makes it harder to relax, focus, and stay aware of the present, resulting in difficulties in processing thoughts, performing chores, and moving the body accordingly.
Some other causes of laziness
While there are many possible causes of laziness, the following are the most prevalent:
Lack of energy
Due to sleep deprivation, absence of physical activities, and unhealthy diets, one might lack energy. Accordingly, this can affect the body and mind functioning, which can then contribute to laziness.
Lack of motivation
Lack of goals in life can lead to laziness. If there’s no clear path one might see, it might be pointless to achieve and do things. In this case, laziness is a result of loneliness, failures, or no motivation.
Inability to act
Inability to act can happen at home, school, work, and almost everywhere. In detail, when one doesn’t have enough capacity like skills and intelligence to complete tasks, then laziness can be a temporary escape.
Peer influence
The people around can also cause laziness, especially in kids and teens. Moreover, as it’s now easy to see what everybody’s doing online, peer influence also became stronger. Accordingly, one might knowingly or unknowingly adopt or copy other people’s behavior like laziness.
Too much reliance on technology
Given how computers and phones can now do many things that humans used to complete manually, many people become too reliant on them. Consequently, many became unwilling to do other unrelated tasks since they are used to instant solutions and expect technology to do all day-to-day things.
Distractions
Aside from technology, other factors like environmental noises, objects, and climate can cause distractions. As a result, one might face laziness due to unclear priorities, loss of focus, and uneasiness.
