Am I depressed or just lazy?

[Rosegold5899]

Hi there,


I am 20 years old and have spent most of this year battling with myself about whether I am depressed or just lazy. I severely lack motivation and on most days I don’t do anything productive or I procrastinate things until it’s almost too late. Fortunately I was able to see a psychologist until August and my GP prescribed me antidepressant medication which I have been taking for about 5 weeks now. My GP expects it be having some kind of effect by now, however I’m only noticing side effects which include a very low libido and fatigue. I’m also feeling as though it’s levelling out my emotions to a point where I don’t really feel anything, or at best a little spike that disappears soon after. Lately I have felt incredibly tired and sometimes take a nap only a couple hours after I get up. I get about 7-9 hours of sleep a night and yet I don’t feel refreshed and often awaken feeling anxious.


Very recently my bedroom was renovated and I’ve spent the last couple of weeks cleaning furniture and moving things back in. For a few days I felt great and was very motivated to do things, however now I’m really struggling to find that motivation again. This is where I can’t figure out if I’m just lazy and desperately trying to use depression as a justification or if I’m actually depressed. I’m aware I’m on antidepressants for a reason yet I have never been told “you are diagnosed with depression”, which makes me question myself. I feel like I’m wasting my youth away but I can’t seem to pull myself out of this routine. To be perfectly honest, I am most comfortable when I am doing nothing, and that makes me feel free yet very guilty at the same time. Part of me doesn’t even want to change my lifestyle. I am so torn. I don’t have access to a psychologist until February so any kind of advice would be very much appreciated!


Thank you for taking the time to read. 🙂

[Peppermintbach]

Hi Rosegold,

The lethargy and lack of motivation must be difficult...I think sometimes both can be related to depression. Feeling so emotionally disconnected would be hard too...I feel for your struggles...

I’m wondering if you have considered maybe discussing possible side effects of your meds with your GP?

Just a little idea...I think it can help to rule things out (i.e. process of elimination) to try to figure out what might be contributing or exacerbating your recent struggles with your flat mood, fatigue and motivation issues...I’m not saying it is or isn’t related to the meds (I’m not qualified to do that), but it might be worth investigating with your GP.

I love how your recent renovation helped spark your motivation for. I think that was fantastic, even if I understand it was temporary. Nice work!

Speaking of which, I wonder if that’s partly your struggle...maybe there hasn’t been enough stimulation in your daily life to motivate you to want to initiate more activity, which is then perhaps further exacerbated by depression. I’m not saying that’s necessarily the case, but simply offering ideas...

So maybe the renovation was big enough of a change that, even if briefly, it gave you purpose/reason to switch up your routine and have goals like moving furniture.

That being said, I do feel for your struggle and get that inactivity is your current comfort zone. But you also sound discontented, and I get there’s a part of you that wants things to be different to now...

So I’m wondering if it might help to start creating small daily goals...just simple things to switch up your routine e.g. having something different for breakfast every other day. Then if you’re hitting those goals , maybe you could push yourself more with bigger goals e.g. daily walks, hobbies, social activity, etc.

If you have days where you find it hard to achieve what you planned and just don’t feel like doing much, that’s okay too. Setbacks are normal and understandable, so if it happens, be kind to yourself and just try again the next day 🙂

I suppose what I’m getting at is slowly building momentum to hopefully help you move forward...making activity into a habit by starting small & then growing...

I’m not sure if my thoughts or ideas are helpful, but I still wanted to share them, just in case...

If you feel like writing any time, please don’t hesitate to share. You’re welcome any time but there’s also no pressure, just when & if you feel up to writing 🙂

Kind & warm thoughts,

Pepper