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How to break the depression cycle


SAMHSA’s National Helpline | SAMHSA

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  • SAMHSA’s National Helpline is a free, confidential, 24/7, 365-day-a-year treatment referral and information service (in English and Spanish) for individuals and families facing mental and/or substance use disorders.

    Also visit the online treatment locator.

SAMHSA’s National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357) (also known as the Treatment Referral Routing Service), or TTY: 1-800-487-4889 is a confidential, free, 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year, information service, in English and Spanish, for individuals and family members facing mental and/or substance use disorders. This service provides referrals to local treatment facilities, support groups, and community-based organizations.

Also visit the online treatment locator, or send your zip code via text message: 435748 (HELP4U) to find help near you. Read more about the HELP4U text messaging service.

The service is open 24/7, 365 days a year.

English and Spanish are available if you select the option to speak with a national representative. Currently, the 435748 (HELP4U) text messaging service is only available in English.

In 2020, the Helpline received 833,598 calls. This is a 27 percent increase from 2019, when the Helpline received a total of 656,953 calls for the year.

The referral service is free of charge. If you have no insurance or are underinsured, we will refer you to your state office, which is responsible for state-funded treatment programs. In addition, we can often refer you to facilities that charge on a sliding fee scale or accept Medicare or Medicaid. If you have health insurance, you are encouraged to contact your insurer for a list of participating health care providers and facilities.

The service is confidential. We will not ask you for any personal information. We may ask for your zip code or other pertinent geographic information in order to track calls being routed to other offices or to accurately identify the local resources appropriate to your needs.

No, we do not provide counseling. Trained information specialists answer calls, transfer callers to state services or other appropriate intake centers in their states, and connect them with local assistance and support.

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Last Updated: 08/30/2022

Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs

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Misusing alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs can have both immediate and long-term health effects.

The misuse and abuse of alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs, and prescription medications affect the health and well-being of millions of Americans. NSDUH estimates allow researchers, clinicians, policymakers, and the general public to better understand and improve the nation’s behavioral health. These reports and detailed tables present estimates from the 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH).

Alcohol

Data:

  • Among the 133.1 million current alcohol users aged 12 or older in 2021, 60.0 million people (or 45.1%) were past month binge drinkers. The percentage of people who were past month binge drinkers was highest among young adults aged 18 to 25 (29.2% or 9.8 million people), followed by adults aged 26 or older (22.4% or 49.3 million people), then by adolescents aged 12 to 17 (3.8% or 995,000 people). (2021 NSDUH)
  • Among people aged 12 to 20 in 2021, 15.1% (or 5.9 million people) were past month alcohol users. Estimates of binge alcohol use and heavy alcohol use in the past month among underage people were 8.3% (or 3.2 million people) and 1.6% (or 613,000 people), respectively. (2021 NSDUH)
  • In 2020, 50.0% of people aged 12 or older (or 138.5 million people) used alcohol in the past month (i.e., current alcohol users) (2020 NSDUH)
  • Among the 138.5 million people who were current alcohol users, 61.6 million people (or 44. 4%) were classified as binge drinkers and 17.7 million people (28.8% of current binge drinkers and 12.8% of current alcohol users) were classified as heavy drinkers (2020 NSDUH)
  • The percentage of people who were past month binge alcohol users was highest among young adults aged 18 to 25 (31.4%) compared with 22.9% of adults aged 26 or older and 4.1% of adolescents aged 12 to 17 (2020 NSDUH)
  • Excessive alcohol use can increase a person’s risk of stroke, liver cirrhosis, alcoholic hepatitis, cancer, and other serious health conditions
  • Excessive alcohol use can also lead to risk-taking behavior, including driving while impaired. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 29 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver daily

Programs/Initiatives:

  • STOP Underage Drinking interagency portal - Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking
  • Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking
  • Talk. They Hear You.
  • Underage Drinking: Myths vs. Facts
  • Talking with your College-Bound Young Adult About Alcohol

Relevant links:

  • National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors
  • Department of Transportation Office of Drug & Alcohol Policy & Compliance
  • Alcohol Policy Information Systems Database (APIS)
  • National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

Tobacco

Data:

  • In 2020, 20.7% of people aged 12 or older (or 57.3 million people) used nicotine products (i.e., used tobacco products or vaped nicotine) in the past month (2020 NSDUH)
  • Among past month users of nicotine products, nearly two thirds of adolescents aged 12 to 17 (63.1%) vaped nicotine but did not use tobacco products. In contrast, 88.9% of past month nicotine product users aged 26 or older used only tobacco products (2020 NSDUH)
  • Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death, often leading to lung cancer, respiratory disorders, heart disease, stroke, and other serious illnesses. The CDC reports that cigarette smoking causes more than 480,000 deaths each year in the United States
  • The CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health reports that more than 16 million Americans are living with a disease caused by smoking cigarettes

Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use data:

  • In 2021, 13.2 million people aged 12 or older (or 4.7%) used an e-cigarette or other vaping device to vape nicotine in the past month. The percentage of people who vaped nicotine was highest among young adults aged 18 to 25 (14.1% or 4.7 million people), followed by adolescents aged 12 to 17 (5.2% or 1.4 million people), then by adults aged 26 or older (3.2% or 7.1 million people).
  • Among people aged 12 to 20 in 2021, 11.0% (or 4.3 million people) used tobacco products or used an e-cigarette or other vaping device to vape nicotine in the past month. Among people in this age group, 8.1% (or 3.1 million people) vaped nicotine, 5.4% (or 2.1 million people) used tobacco products, and 3. 4% (or 1.3 million people) smoked cigarettes in the past month. (2021 NSDUH)
  • Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2020 National Youth Tobacco Survey. Among both middle and high school students, current use of e-cigarettes declined from 2019 to 2020, reversing previous trends and returning current e-cigarette use to levels similar to those observed in 2018
  • E-cigarettes are not safe for youth, young adults, or pregnant women, especially because they contain nicotine and other chemicals

Resources:

  • Tips for Teens: Tobacco
  • Tips for Teens: E-cigarettes
  • Implementing Tobacco Cessation Programs in Substance Use Disorder Treatment Settings
  • Synar Amendment Program

Links:

  • Truth Initiative
  • FDA Center for Tobacco Products
  • CDC Office on Smoking and Health
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse: Tobacco, Nicotine, and E-Cigarettes
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse: E-Cigarettes

Opioids

Data:

  • Among people aged 12 or older in 2021, 3. 3% (or 9.2 million people) misused opioids (heroin or prescription pain relievers) in the past year. Among the 9.2 million people who misused opioids in the past year, 8.7 million people misused prescription pain relievers compared with 1.1 million people who used heroin. These numbers include 574,000 people who both misused prescription pain relievers and used heroin in the past year. (2021 NSDUH)
  • Among people aged 12 or older in 2020, 3.4% (or 9.5 million people) misused opioids in the past year. Among the 9.5 million people who misused opioids in the past year, 9.3 million people misused prescription pain relievers and 902,000 people used heroin (2020 NSDUH)
  • According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Understanding the Epidemic, an average of 128 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose

Resources:

  • Medications for Substance Use Disorders
  • Opioid Overdose Prevention Toolkit
  • TIP 63: Medications for Opioid Use Disorder
  • Use of Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder in Criminal Justice Settings
  • Opioid Use Disorder and Pregnancy
  • Clinical Guidance for Treating Pregnant and Parenting Women With Opioid Use Disorder and Their Infants
  • The Facts about Buprenorphine for Treatment of Opioid Addiction
  • Pregnancy Planning for Women Being Treated for Opioid Use Disorder
  • Tips for Teens: Opioids
  • Rural Opioid Technical Assistance Grants
  • Tribal Opioid Response Grants
  • Provider’s Clinical Support System - Medication Assisted Treatment Grant Program

Links:

  • National Institute on Drug Abuse: Opioids
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse: Heroin
  • HHS Prevent Opioid Abuse
  • Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America
  • Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC) Network
  • Prevention Technology Transfer Center (PTTC) Network

Marijuana

Data:

  • In 2021, marijuana was the most commonly used illicit drug, with 18. 7% of people aged 12 or older (or 52.5 million people) using it in the past year. The percentage was highest among young adults aged 18 to 25 (35.4% or 11.8 million people), followed by adults aged 26 or older (17.2% or 37.9 million people), then by adolescents aged 12 to 17 (10.5% or 2.7 million people).
  • The percentage of people who used marijuana in the past year was highest among young adults aged 18 to 25 (34.5%) compared with 16.3% of adults aged 26 or older and 10.1% of adolescents aged 12 to 17 (2020 NSDUH)
  • Marijuana can impair judgment and distort perception in the short term and can lead to memory impairment in the long term
  • Marijuana can have significant health effects on youth and pregnant women.

Resources:

  • Know the Risks of Marijuana
  • Marijuana and Pregnancy
  • Tips for Teens: Marijuana

Relevant links:

  • National Institute on Drug Abuse: Marijuana
  • Addiction Technology Transfer Centers on Marijuana
  • CDC Marijuana and Public Health

Emerging Trends in Substance Misuse:

  • Methamphetamine—In 2019, NSDUH data show that approximately 2 million people used methamphetamine in the past year. Approximately 1 million people had a methamphetamine use disorder, which was higher than the percentage in 2016, but similar to the percentages in 2015 and 2018. The National Institute on Drug Abuse Data shows that overdose death rates involving methamphetamine have quadrupled from 2011 to 2017. Frequent meth use is associated with mood disturbances, hallucinations, and paranoia.
  • Cocaine—In 2019, NSDUH data show an estimated 5.5 million people aged 12 or older were past users of cocaine, including about 778,000 users of crack. The CDC reports that overdose deaths involving have increased by one-third from 2016 to 2017. In the short term, cocaine use can result in increased blood pressure, restlessness, and irritability. In the long term, severe medical complications of cocaine use include heart attacks, seizures, and abdominal pain.
  • Kratom—In 2019, NSDUH data show that about 825,000 people had used Kratom in the past month. Kratom is a tropical plant that grows naturally in Southeast Asia with leaves that can have psychotropic effects by affecting opioid brain receptors. It is currently unregulated and has risk of abuse and dependence. The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that health effects of Kratom can include nausea, itching, seizures, and hallucinations.

Resources:

  • Tips for Teens: Methamphetamine
  • Tips for Teens: Cocaine
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse

More SAMHSA publications on substance use prevention and treatment.

Last Updated: 03/22/2023

3 Techniques for Dealing with Procrastination

Are you constantly putting things off and not completing them at all, coming up with thousands of excuses? This habit reduces efficiency, increases the level of anxiety and dissatisfaction with oneself. If you have already tried to get rid of procrastination, but nothing worked, it may be worth trying other methods suggested by psychologist David Burns in the book Anxiety Therapy. How to deal with fears, anxieties and panic attacks without medication.

We are publishing an excerpt in which it is written where to start and how to defeat procrastination.

David Burns
Alpina Publisher, 2021

Way to deal with procrastination

Anxiety can cause many problems in your life, including procrastination. You may put off a task like writing an article, studying, or filing your tax return because you're filled with anxiety every time you think about how you're going to do it. You say to yourself, “This is not the right time. I'll wait until I'm in the mood for it." But the mood never comes, and the longer you procrastinate, the more anxious and guilty you feel. You become a prisoner of a vicious circle. Anxiety leads to procrastination, and procrastination causes more anxiety.

Depression can also cause procrastination. In depression, you have neither motivation nor energy, and you lose interest in life. Everything seems extremely difficult and unfulfilling, so you sit and do nothing. This causes you to have even more depression, depression only intensifies, which entails even more procrastination. So you are again trapped in a vicious circle.

In the previous chapter, you learned about two techniques to help you deal with procrastination: the paradoxical analysis of advantages and disadvantages and the Devil's Advocate technique. In this chapter, you will learn four more techniques that will help you break the procrastination cycle and make your workflow more productive and creative:

  1. The supposed pleasure technique.

  2. Small steps towards big goals.

  3. Technique of problems and solutions.

The Assumed Pleasure Technique

You may remember Nate, the anxious professor who thought that if he couldn't do something perfectly, it shouldn't be done at all. When he used the supposed pleasure form, he was surprised to learn that sometimes the greatest joy in life comes from the things he does mediocrely: like fixing a broken pipe, walking in the woods, or playing squash with his son. Conversely, some of the things he seemed to be "perfect" at were highly stressful and unrewarding.

Activity
Plan activities that could potentially bring you pleasure, learning, or personal growth.

With whom
Write "by yourself" if you plan to do it alone

Estimated pleasure (0-100%)
Write before each session

Actual pleasure (0-100%)
Write after each session

In column "Activities" you can schedule activities that have the potential to bring you pleasure, learning or personal growth. Make sure you include a few activities in the table that you can do on your own, such as jogging and cleaning your desk. Also, don't forget about activities with other people. For example, plan to go to the movies or go for a walk with a friend.

In the "With whom" column, indicate who you are going to do this with. If you have planned to do something on your own, write the word "self" in this column. This will remind you that you are never alone because you always have you.

In the Estimated Pleasure column, try to predict how satisfying and worthwhile each of these activities will be on a scale of 0 (not at all) to 100% (most satisfying). Make sure you complete these two columns before how to start each activity.

After you have completed each of these activities, rate how much satisfaction they gave you in the Real Enjoyment column using the same scale.

When you take a look at the received data, you will learn a lot of interesting things. First, you will be able to compare perceived and actual pleasure levels. It often turns out that many activities turn out to be more worthwhile and enjoyable than you thought. This discovery may motivate you to do even more.

A lot of depressed people avoid activities they used to enjoy because they say to themselves, “Oh, this isn't going to be fun at all. I know I won't like it." So they sit still, do almost nothing and sink into even more depression. Then they say, "God, life really isn't as fun as I thought it would be." In this statement, you can notice the distortion "Error of prediction". People make unrealistic assumptions but don't realize it because they haven't even tried to test them.

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You can also compare the pleasure you get from doing things alone with the pleasure you get from doing things together with other people. Many find that they experience the happiest moments in life when they are alone. This may disprove the belief that true happiness can only come from the moments you share with someone else.

A writer named Raymond had great difficulty writing a synopsis for his first novel. He sat for hours and stared at a blank computer screen, unable to write a single sentence. Part of the problem was that Raymond's younger brother became a movie star almost overnight. Raymond was very proud of him, but under great stress, believing that he needed to achieve something equally outstanding. He felt that it was his duty as the eldest son to be the most successful.

But his brother's success set the bar almost impossible. Every time Raymond and his brother met, they ate at the most exclusive restaurants, they were followed by paparazzi and crowds of adoring fans who wanted an autograph of their idol. His brother was invited for interviews on TV talk shows almost every week.

Raymond constantly dreamed of achieving incredible success as a novelist and told himself that his life could not be sufficiently satisfying or meaningful until he wrote the Great American Novel. He understood that these impossible goals caused a creative block and intense anxiety about his achievements, but he could not give up the idea that a certain level of joy and satisfaction is available only to "beautiful people. " He was convinced that he could never experience real happiness until he had achieved at least the same success as his brother.

I asked Raymond to write this belief at the top of the perceived pleasure slip: "I can't experience true happiness and fulfillment until I write the Great American Novel or achieve something extraordinary." Then he planned several activities that he could complete during the week, and suggested how satisfactory each of them would be.

One of the activities he recorded was going to the zoo with his six-year-old niece for her birthday. Raymond loved his niece very much and guessed that the satisfaction rate would reach 70%. As it turned out, they had a great time, although they did quite ordinary things, so he rated the pleasure of going to the zoo at 99%. This was absolutely inconsistent with his conviction that he could never feel happy and fulfilled until he achieved something outstanding. Raymond realized that he was missing out on a lot of "normal" activities that he really loved. As a result, he stopped pushing himself so hard and felt more relaxed. Paradoxically, this rekindled his creativity, and soon he was working on his novel like crazy.

Although the technique of supposed pleasure is quite simple, there is a deep philosophical idea behind it. Sometimes we think we need to be "special" and we are obsessed with trying to achieve something out of the ordinary.

We are afraid that if we don't succeed, we will be inferior, second-rate people, leading a mediocre life without pleasure

Or we may become obsessed with other needs, such as the need to be loved or the need for universal approval, and tell ourselves that we won't be happy without these things.

The most memorable experience can be quite ordinary, and every minute of every day has the potential to bring us deep, true pleasure. The supposed pleasure technique simply helps to transform that idea into an emotional reality.

Small steps towards big goals

When you are working on a big project, you may be afraid of trying to take on too much at once. Then you can give up and end up doing nothing or doing very little. For example, if you have a term paper to write, you might tell yourself that you have to go to the library and look through 20 books on that topic in one day. But this task seems so intimidating that you will just leave to meet friends instead of working on your term paper.

Instead, you can break a complex task into several small steps, each of which can be completed in a few minutes. Then you can focus on each next step without trying to do everything at once. For example, you could break down the process of writing a term paper like this:

Step 1. Bike to the library.

Step 2. Find bibliographic references in the computer catalog.

Step 3. Print the list of references.

Step 4. Find material from the first link.

Step 5. View the material.

Step 6. Write a short summary and main conclusions on a separate card.

As you begin a task, you may experience a sense of accomplishment that will motivate you to do more. I often find myself working on a task for several hours, even if I planned to take one or two steps.

When you're thinking about a task you've been putting off, you might also say to yourself, "I just couldn't get it done." It sounds like some invisible barrier or force is holding you back from this task. Do you really mean "I don't want to do this" . "I can't" and "I don't want" are not the same thing! The Small Steps to Big Goals technique will help you see the differences clearly.

One of my patients was a depressed doctor named Perry who procrastinated trying to get out of bed in the morning. Every morning, instead of getting up and going to the hospital for an examination, he continued to sleep. Then he woke up and made his rounds only after dinner. This caused stress because he was always late and did his best to meet the schedule. Perry said he tried everything, including using multiple alarms at the same time. He put each of them a little further from the bed and turned it on a little later. But this trick was useless, because when the first alarm rang, he just got up and turned them all off. Then he climbed back into bed and fell into a deep sound sleep.

This habit haunted Perry for many years. He said that he was simply unable to get himself up in the morning and he really needed my help. I replied that I would be more than happy to help him, but I would like to clarify what kind of help was required from me. What exactly was the problem that I had to help him with? Perry said he had already explained it quite clearly. He needs help getting out of bed in the morning.

I said that I would be happy to help him get out of bed, and offered to break this task into small steps so that I could figure out which step he was having difficulty with. What would he have to do first? What will he do next? We have listed the following six steps:

  1. Open your eyes.

  2. Move the right foot to the edge of the bed.

  3. Throw the left leg over the edge of the bed.

  4. Sit on the bed.

  5. Stand next to the bed.

  6. Go to the bathroom.

Then I asked Perry if he needed help with the first step. For example, does he feel heaviness in his eyelids, do his eyes stick together when he wakes up? Does he have to make an effort to open his eyelids? Does it happen that they stubbornly refuse to open up and it seems impossible to open their eyes?

Perry seemed puzzled by this and said he never had trouble opening his eyes. I said: "Okay, then maybe you need help with the second and third steps - move your right foot to the edge of the bed and lower your left foot to the floor? Do you feel particularly stiff or heavy in your legs in the morning? Maybe we can practice right here in my office. Try moving your left foot back and forth right now so I can look and see what's wrong." .

Perry seemed irritated by this and said that he could definitely move his legs and move them to the edge of the bed. Then I said: “I apologize if my questions seem stupid. I really want to help you, but it's still not entirely clear to me what you need my help with. Can you explain this to me?"

Perry replied: “Okay, what I really need help with is turning off all my alarms every morning. Then I lie back in bed and fall asleep instead of getting up and getting dressed. Can you help me with this?" Suppose you are Perry's therapist. How would you use the Small Steps to Big Goals technique to help him get out of bed and get dressed in the morning?

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Problem and Solution Technique

Imagine that you want to start a task that you have been putting off for a long time. It can be cleaning the table, in the garage, laying out paperwork, mowing the lawn, or even exercising. Briefly describe the task here.

Now tell me when you want to start working on this. Write a specific day here

If you wrote "tomorrow" or "next week", I'm afraid I can't help you. I can help you with this only today. Postponing until tomorrow is the crux of the problem. Do you want to start this task today? If your answer is yes, please tell me what time you are ready to start. Write the specific time here.

Let's say you agree to start cleaning your desk at 3:00 pm. Ask yourself if you are willing to work on this for a limited amount of time, such as 5 minutes starting at 3:00 pm. Please tick one of the following boxes to show how you feel about it.

  • No

  • Possibly

  • Yes

If you say five minutes is just a drop in the bucket, I'll remind you of the old Chinese proverb that even the longest journey starts with one step. If you schedule too much work in the beginning, you will feel overwhelmed and will probably avoid the task. Then you won't succeed. But even the most unpleasant task can be handled with five minutes. And when you finally get started, chances are good that you will be in the mood to do a little more. When those five minutes are up, you will have completed 100% of your task and will be able to quit without any guilt. But if you decide to devote more time to it, it will be a nice addition.

Make a two-column table:

Problem - Solution

If you agreed to work on a task for five minutes, starting at 15:00, list the possible problems that may prevent you from starting it in the left column of the list of problems and solutions. For example, you might tell yourself that you need to talk to a friend who just called, or that you're not in the mood and tomorrow will be a better day. After listing all the obstacles that may stand in your way, write down the solution to each problem in the right column. You won't need my help with this step because the solutions are usually fairly obvious. Try it right now. You can take a look at an example of a completed list of problems and solutions below.

The philosophy behind this technique is very simple. There are no invisible barriers holding you back, and there is no need for some fancy running around to solve the problem. So the real question is: do you want to make that call?

In the "Open Reading" section, we publish excerpts from books in the form in which they are provided by the publishers. Minor abbreviations are indicated by ellipsis in square brackets.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the opinion of the editors.

Cognitive Psychotherapy Clinic

Procrastination

Procrastination is manifested in the refusal to perform important tasks in the near future, in their postponement “for later” or replacement with insignificant activities. But not only important things can be put off by a person as a result of procrastination. As procrastination increases, everyday, less significant tasks begin to be postponed, which leads to a deterioration in the quality of life and losses in both the personal and professional spheres.

The term " procrastination " (from Lat. pro - "for" and Lat. crastinus - "tomorrow") began to be used in the late 70s of the last century. So one of the founders of cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy, the creator of Rational-Emotional Behavioral Psychotherapy Albert Ellis published a book on this problem in 1977: Overcoming Procrastination : Or How to Think and Act Rationally in Spite of Life0213 ' s Inevitable Hassles , Albert Ellis with William J. Knaus. Institute for Rational Living, 1977.

Procrastination is not included in the International Classification of Diseases, but is widespread according to a number of sources. Procrastination can manifest itself as a separate psychological phenomenon or can act as a symptom of various conditions. Depending on what led to the signs of procrastination, ways and means to overcome it will be determined.

Procrastination, laziness, asthenia and depression.

It is important to distinguish procrastination from manifestations of laziness, asthenia and depression.

  • With laziness, a person's motivation decreases and outwardly this manifests itself in the behavior that we call laziness, that is, unwillingness to do something. At the same time, with laziness, a person does not have experiences because of his behavior and he does not perceive his condition as a problem. A procrastinating person perceives his condition as a problem and tries to find a solution for it.
  • In asthenia, procrastination is a sign of exhaustion of the central nervous system, due to excessive loads, overstrain or prolonged lack of rest. With asthenia, attention and concentration disorders develop, motivation decreases, and self-confidence may decrease.
  • In depression, procrastination is a symptom, a sign of the disease. As a rule, in addition to symptoms similar to procrastination, depression also develops others: for example, depressed mood, painful thoughts about the future, sleep problems, decreased performance, "failure" and others. To determine the signs of depression, there is a special test that can be taken on our website at the link here. However, only a professional psychotherapist can accurately make a differential diagnosis between depression and procrastination. Depression requires urgent psychotherapeutic treatment.

LAZY

PROCRASTINATION

ASTHENIA ("Burnout")

DEPRESSION

Causes

Decreased motivation

Psychological attitudes (Cognitive schemas) blocking activity

Biological (central nervous system exhaustion)

Biological causes and psychological attitudes

Attitude

Not perceived as a problem

Is aware of and causes painful experiences

Realized

Depends on the course and severity

Solution

Formation of motivation, psychological correction

Psychotherapy

Recovery, normalization of the balance of work and rest and restorative therapy

Psychotherapy and drug therapy (if indicated)

Causes of procrastination

Numerous sources discuss different mechanisms of procrastination. Below are the most typical causes that can combine and complement each other.

1) Lack of self-organization: lack of knowledge and skills.

The modern world dictates multitasking in everyday activities. And if a person does not have an understanding of how to effectively organize his work, then a state of confusion and anxiety may arise due to the accumulating number of cases: “such a bunch of cases that I don’t know what to do!”. Unfinished business runs the risk of developing problems at work, which in turn can lead to a deterioration in the condition due to the feelings caused by the problems that have arisen. To break this vicious circle and solve the problem will help the study and development of methods of self-organization in work. There are many books and trainings on self-management and time management. Studying the literature and attending trainings will allow you to acquire the necessary information and develop useful skills. Some of the most effective techniques are listed below:

  1. Make a to-do list so that you can see a list of things to do in front of you.
  2. Distribute all cases according to the principle of Dwight Eisenhower:
    • Important and urgent;
    • Important and non-urgent;
    • Unimportant and urgent;
    • Not important and not urgent.
      Such a distribution will help to see the priority of cases and understand where to start, and what, indeed, can be postponed until later.
  3. Place in prominent places (computer, refrigerator, etc.) stickers with reminders of what is to be done.
  4. Starting with the most unpleasant and undesirable, you can do one such thing a day, but it is important to do it first. “If you have to eat a live frog every morning, you can be content all day after that knowing that probably nothing worse will happen to you today.”
  5. Organize the workspace - clear a place to work by removing all unnecessary.
  6. Control the time using a clock or a timer. Set time limits for tasks, for example, work for 4 hours (with 10 minute breaks), then an hour break and again work for 2 hours with breaks. Keep track of work and break times with a clock or timer.
  7. Use the rule (10 + 2) x 5. Any work within an hour is divided into 5 sets of 10 minutes each, between which a 2-minute break is allowed for any rest.
  8. Split one big business into several small ones. "Break the elephant into little elephants."
  9. Reward yourself. After completing the planned, be sure to allow yourself a little pleasure (for example, drink coffee after the work done, etc.).
  10. Organize your time by keeping a diary: write down what you have planned and mark / cross off what you have done.
  11. Use the principle "Change of work - there is rest." Both long and short rests can be spent by changing activities (for example, changing the writing of the text to mechanical work).
    Physiologist Ivan Mikhailovich Sechenov confirmed the optimality of an 8-hour working day. As an example, he cited the work of the heart - the organ of a person who has been working tirelessly all his life. Each cycle of the heart consists of three stages of equal duration: contraction; relaxation; recovery pauses. By analogy with this, during the day, a person after an 8-hour duration of work should have 8 hours of rest and the same amount of time for sleep. Only living in such a regime, a person will work for a long time and fruitfully. This ratio of activity and rest corresponds to an 8-hour working day in a 24-hour daily cycle.
  12. Do not judge yourself if something is postponed again, but use the listed techniques and do it again. Self-accusations of procrastination will not help get rid of it: negative emotions will deprive you of strength. Acknowledge the fact of your procrastination and start overcoming it.

NB ! If the above techniques do not lead to a lasting result and you are still experiencing problems due to procrastination, then you need to contact a psychotherapist. Since in this case, procrastination may have deeper, non-obvious reasons associated with some psychological attitudes.

2) Unrealistic forecasting: fear of failure and mistakes.

Human consciousness constantly predicts the results of its activities, avoiding uncertainty in the future. This helps to protect yourself from erroneous actions, choose the safest path and plan your life with minimal losses. We can predict where we are most at risk, what our actions will lead to negative consequences and, as a result, we make efforts to avoid trouble. When a person assumes that nothing good will happen as a result of his actions, then he stops his activities and avoids danger. If such a forecast is true, then this is a constructive work of thinking. However, in the presence of certain features of thinking, a negative forecast begins to prevail over a realistic one. Like in a fairy tale about poor Elsa, who unreasonably saw the future only in a gloomy light and suffered because the pick hanging on the basement wall could fall on the head of her son, who was not even born yet.

In procrastination, an unrealistic future-forecasting mechanism creates scenarios with negative performance outcomes. For example, mentally a person can say to himself “what if I make a mistake and there will be problems” or “I won’t succeed” or “what if it gets worse”, etc. When we do not see a positive result in our work, then the motivation falls and the desire to continue it disappears. And thus, the matter is postponed and not carried out, which leads to feelings and negative emotions.

Of course, there is no person on the planet whose all affairs would be 100% successful. No one is immune from failures, and as long as we are alive, there is a possibility that we may encounter them. But in the mind of a procrastinator, the thought of the possibility of failure leads to blocking of activity and, with systematic repetition, to the development of procrastination. As the message begins to dominate, the best way to avoid failure or error is to do nothing.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy is indicated for this type of procrastination, which allows you to change unrealistic thinking and learn how to adequately respond to failures, cope with them and prevent them.

3) Perfectionism: the duty of a perfectionist.

Perfectionism, or striving for perfection, can be both constructive and destructive. After all, many great discoveries and works of art that we admire are the result of their authors' striving for perfection. But the positive or negative effect is determined by how the significance of achieving excellence is perceived. If a person categorically and categorically tells himself that “I must achieve perfection”, “I must achieve the ideal in everything at all costs” and excludes any alternative without perfection, then the absence of the desired result can lead to deepest disappointment. The key is a rigid and rigid requirement for oneself, manifested in the “must achieve” and the absence in the mind of a different scenario in which failure to achieve perfection is allowed. If a person tells himself that “I would like to achieve perfection and will make efforts for this, but not achieving the ideal is not a disaster for me,” then such a formulation does not oppress with unrealistic expectations and allows you to flexibly adapt to the conditions when the ideal turns out to be unattainable.

In the case of a perfectionist, procrastination is formed due to the fact that a person sets himself unrealistic goals that are not achieved and, faced with the collapse of his expectations, falls into "paralysis of activity." And he stops further attempts to do something or refuses to take on things at all, because he does not see the point in them due to the fact that his efforts still do not lead to the ideal. That is, just like the well-known donkey who was chasing a carrot and could not catch up with it, the perfectionist cannot achieve perfection in any way, suffers because of this and, as a result, disappointedly stops doing something.

Schematically, the development of procrastination with the obligation of a perfectionist can be depicted as follows:

Keep in mind that procrastination has the ability to sustain itself, so it is important to block the vicious cycle of procrastination that can devalue self-efficacy and lower self-esteem.

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