- [Narrator] Hey, Psych2Goers, welcome back.
Have you ever wondered what the difference is
between depression and laziness?
Depression and laziness have a lot in common.
Both can result in a lack of productivity
and a general inability to function
through life's challenges.
A person who is feeling down after a hard day at work
may come home wanting nothing more
than to lay in their bed all day,
but does feeling lethargic make you lazy
or is it more than that?
Here are the differences you should know
between laziness and depression.
Number one, length of time.
Do you feel an extreme sense of sadness and lethargy
throughout the day or does it only happen every so often?
Depression is labeled as a persistent feeling of being sad,
hopeless and empty over a long period of time.
When you are depressed, it feels like nothing
can ever make you feel happy no matter what you try.
You can't find it within yourself to do anything,
whether it's good for you or not.
Laziness is a bit different.
Unlike depression, it isn't a psychological disorder.
It's a momentary state.
Feeling lethargy from time to time is common for everyone.
That's just the body recovering from stress
or a lack of sleep,
but usually after a good night's rest
or a moment of relaxation,
your body will feel refreshed again
and can function on a day-to-day basis.
Number two.
Sense of control.
Do you feel like a new reward can cause a shift
in your motivation to accomplish a task?
For people with depression, working towards a goal
or something that brings them happiness is too much.
They struggle to find the energy
within themselves to take action
and they often think they don't deserve anything better,
that everything is hopeless
and there's no point in doing things
as they feel they have no control over their actions.
Where lazy people, they usually lack motivation
to do the things that are expected of them.
The reasons for this are plenty.
Perhaps they don't like their boss,
aren't fulfilled at work or have too many things to do.
But once a lazy person is placed in the right environment,
they'll feel much more motivated to be productive.
For people with depression, their mental faculties
make them feel largely indifferent towards most things,
making it harder for them to get out of the rut.
Usually professional intervention is necessary.
Number three, chemical imbalance.
The brains of people with depression
are noticeably more different than lazy people
based on FMRI scans.
In a study published in "The Journal of Neuroscience",
the hippocampus of participants
who had a history of depression
reported 9% to 13% smaller size
compared to those without depression.
This means fewer serotonin receptors
or the chemical that regulates mood.
This can also be linked with stress,
a major factor of depression,
which can slow down the production
of new neurons in the hippocampus.
People who feel lazy however,
don't have as much of these major brain alterations
as depressed people.
While there could be overlaps in symptoms,
depression is a serious psychological disorder
where parts of the brain, like the amygdala,
thalamus and hippocampus are wired differently
and contribute to one's depressive mind states.
Number four, excessive worry.
Do you catch yourself having self-defeating thoughts
and constant ruminations?
Rumination, the persistent focus on negative feelings
is a common symptom of depression.
Ruminating can also force people to isolate themselves,
which can worsen one's depressive mood.
People who ruminate tend to be perfectionists
and overvalue their relationships with others,
even if it's not an unhealthy one.
People who are lazy usually don't get caught up
by ruminations or critical thoughts
and aren't worried about things that happened in the past,
but may be concerned about the consequences
of their future through their lack of action.
And number five, depression affects your physical health.
Depression is known to not just affect your state of mind,
but also your physical health and wellbeing.
For instance, depressed people are more likely
to have trouble concentrating and memory-loss
due to the rewiring in their brains,
especially older adults.
Insomnia, constricted blood vessels, fatigue
and weakened immune systems
are all some of the more common symptoms of depression
which can affect your overall health.
Lazy people are less likely to be affected
by physical health issues, unlike people with depression.
They may sometimes feel fatigued due to not sleeping enough
or making poor diet choices,
but laziness doesn't have a major impact on the body
like depression does.
So can you relate to any of the signs
and symptoms mentioned?
If so, let us know in the comments.
We hope you've learned the difference
between depression and laziness and if you like this video,
share it with someone who you think might benefit.
As always, the references and studies used
are listed in the description below.
Thanks so much for watching.
Take care and we'll see you next time.