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It’s an error in the dopaminergic pathway to your prefrontal cortex, where your executive function resides. Totally confused with laziness, especially for outside observers. But it is in fact a physical issue with a physical cause for many people. Not that knowing this helps with the stigma in any way, unfortunately.
Why would anyone consider “not doing things you like” as lazy?
Not doing things that necessary but unfun (cleaning, work, etc) is generally what people consider lazyness.
Simple. You’re vegetating on the couch, probably mindlessly doomscrolling, while fighting an inner battle that you usually lose. From the outside, people only see you on the couch. They don’t know about your internal struggle and how much energy it requires. They’ll simply conclude you’re lazy and unmotivated.
My mother! Executive dysfunction is a myth, her children are lazy bastards, you know.
The children she tested as part of her job? No no, they aren’t lazy, they have issues. They need help.
We just needed to stop being lazy.
Shitty*
you can swear on tumblr, they are doing it for the funny
It’s somewhat of a vicious cycle, too. When you do a hobby, you typically achieve stuff, whether that’s inter-personal relationships, a painting you wanted to finish, or e.g. physical fitness.
These successes, as well as their knock-on effects, help to form long-term happiness. With mindless media consumption, on the other hand, the happiness stops pretty much as soon as you turn off the screen, so you have to keep going back for more, and then it also takes time away from forming long-term happiness.
Mindless media consumption requires no energy. Hobbies usually do. Sometimes you’re just so drained you don’t even the energy for fun stuff.
My one major non computer based hobby calls my name whenever the sun is shining. Once you’ve jumped a bike into the air multiple meters it’ll call you too.
You gotta find a hobby that gives you more dopamine and adrenaline than sitting on your butt getting digital dopamine hits.
Mindless media consumption is all I can manage some days. Many mornings, like today, I barely have the willpower to get myself out of bed. Making it to my computer I can manage to turn on media, but not usually play a video game
I’ve been banging this drum on a few other posts, but it’s literally something I ended up having to go to a therapist and taking antidepressants over.
It’s hedonism and eudaimonism. You need a bit of hedonism to help pick you up, and some eudaimonism (long term rewarding, high quality past time) to make you feel more self esteem and that you actually enjoyed yourself. If you just have obligations and responsibilities and you make up for it with hedonism only, you feel depressed in the long run because the days bleed together and you are wasting your time. But, eudaimonistic past times actually require effort and sometimes self esteem involvement and even risk. Like for example, playing the guitar. If you practice and it sucks ass, you feel bad. But if it goes well you gain more self esteem because you feel good about your capabilities.
I enjoy it when I start doing them tho
