Home » Misc » Laziness depression difference

Laziness depression difference


SAMHSA’s National Helpline | SAMHSA

Your browser is not supported

Switch to Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari

Main page content

  • 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.

  • Suggested Resources

    What Is Substance Abuse Treatment? A Booklet for Families
    Created for family members of people with alcohol abuse or drug abuse problems. Answers questions about substance abuse, its symptoms, different types of treatment, and recovery. Addresses concerns of children of parents with substance use/abuse problems.

    It's Not Your Fault (NACoA) (PDF | 12 KB)
    Assures teens with parents who abuse alcohol or drugs that, "It's not your fault!" and that they are not alone. Encourages teens to seek emotional support from other adults, school counselors, and youth support groups such as Alateen, and provides a resource list.

    After an Attempt: A Guide for Taking Care of Your Family Member After Treatment in the Emergency Department
    Aids family members in coping with the aftermath of a relative's suicide attempt. Describes the emergency department treatment process, lists questions to ask about follow-up treatment, and describes how to reduce risk and ensure safety at home.

    Family Therapy Can Help: For People in Recovery From Mental Illness or Addiction
    Explores the role of family therapy in recovery from mental illness or substance abuse. Explains how family therapy sessions are run and who conducts them, describes a typical session, and provides information on its effectiveness in recovery.

    For additional resources, please visit the SAMHSA Store.

Last Updated: 08/30/2022

Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs

Your browser is not supported

Switch to Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari

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

How to distinguish laziness from depression?

Laughter for no reason is a sign... We all remember teasers from childhood. And few people knew that there is no laziness without a reason. It's one thing when we are too lazy to do something, because we are either tired or our soul is not lying, as they say ... But psychologists say that a state of laziness can also be a symptom of a disease.

Laziness or self-sabotage?

In order to understand where the body simply decided to rest, and when the help of a specialist is needed, we turned to a psychologist and art therapist in Kyrgyzstan Svetlana Nagornova for advice.

“What we call laziness in everyday life is called self-sabotage in psychology today. This lack of activity for various reasons. And they are not so obvious. Laziness can be different from an everyday point of view, when I simply don’t have the strength - it’s more about depression than the situation when you think: “Why should I do this, do I need it.” It all depends on the person's approach to the same situation - to laziness. In professional psychology, there is no concept of laziness at all. For psychologists, laziness is a symptom of something else. Often under laziness various psychological problems are hidden.

For example, it may be a lack of motivation, when you just don't feel like doing something. Or it can be a serious symptom of depression, hormonal changes, when you don’t have the strength to get up in the morning. And this is not laziness at all, but may be a symptom of some disease, including mental one. Another reason: I have resistance, I don't want to do it for some reason. This is also an indicator for a psychologist. And the next reason, the body just needs to rest sometimes, but the human being perceives this as something supernatural: you can’t rest, there is an internal ban on rest, ”explained Nagornova.

"Neither bad nor good" or "inhale and exhale"?

Why are we taught from childhood that laziness is definitely a bad quality?

“You have to understand that laziness is neither good nor bad. And this is an indicator of the processes that occur in the psyche, they need to be dealt with. I don't think laziness is bad. We all live in such an individual world today. The fact is that these days we are all sharpened for success. Like, if a person is successful, he should have time to do everything. And such phrases as “time wasted in vain”, “we are wasting time”, or slogans: “Don't waste it! Hurry up! Do it!”. And the human being is very natural. We forget about it. Nature has no concept of time. She has cycles. Winter turns to spring, day to night. And the person also inhales and exhales. We also live in cycles. We have a phase of inspiration, when we are active, active, we have a lot of energy, when we want to achieve something. And the exhalation phase, we cannot only inhale, or only exhale. Such moments come, for example, when I do not have the strength for vigorous activity, the moment has just come to relax. And at this moment, most people begin to engage in self-flagellation, they say, how bad I am, I’m wasting time in vain, a slacker! No, you just gain strength, you just exhale at this moment, you just need to wait, and there will be the next phase of inhalation. In order for the exhalation to be effective, you also need to be able to enjoy it, ”advises Svetlana Nagornova.

But how do you learn to do this?

“The better you know yourself, the better you are attuned to your inner cycles, the easier it is for you to live. This is first. Secondly, you achieve greater goals than when you constantly push yourself. I always have an example of a driven horse, nothing good happens to it, it just dies. We will get from point "a" to point "b" faster if we do not drive this horse. I always jokingly tell my clients: “A driven horse is always shot, there is no other option. If you want, we can shoot you." You must treat with acceptance that you are now in the exhalation phase, treat with pleasure such a period of life when your body is in a state of rest. Now we are only talking about fatigue and a change in the energy moments of life, a change in the cycles of our life activity, ”says the expert.

A completely different laziness or "groundhog day"

Well, we are slowly moving from a slight laziness, a state of exhalation, to the moment when we may stop breathing.

“There is another moment. And this is already self-sabotage, when we don’t want to do something, because we don’t feel why we need it. We do not represent clearly, we have no motivation. And then it's completely different laziness. It's called procrastination. When we keep postponing something for tomorrow that never comes. For example, girls who are always going to go on a diet from Monday, but without a clear date. There could be a million of these Mondays. Constant procrastination raises a serious question, the lack of a clear motivation, when a person does not see the point of why and why. And the second reason for postponing is, oddly enough, the fear of achieving the goal, success, that everything will work out. The state “I can want it, but the subconscious impulse makes it clear that it’s scary,” said psychologist and art therapist Svetlana Nagornova.

According to her, this fear is not related to taking responsibility in case of achieving a result.

“Often this is due either to psychological trauma in childhood or to the destruction of expectations. Or a person does not believe in himself. When the family said: you can’t, you can’t, you won’t succeed. It's all recorded in the depths of the subconscious. Outcome: "I kind of want to, but I'm afraid." They often say: “I want to become a star!” - Well, why didn't you? And everything is simple, inside the person himself does not believe in it. In general, sometimes it is the fear of failure, sometimes the fear of success,” explained Nagornova

It is also important to be able to distinguish the state of exhalation from serious diseases.

“Depression has clear symptoms. This is a serious mental illness, and it comes at the level of hormonal changes. And magic methods of motivation: “Get up and go! Pull yourself together, pull yourself together” do not work. Here you need the help of not even a psychologist, but a psychiatrist. And here I want to dispel the myth that a psychologist can cope with a severe depressive state. No, only a psychiatrist. It is very important to know the difference, exhalation is a state of rest, and depression is an unwillingness to breathe, ”Nagornova noted.

Signs of depression:

  1. Sleep disturbance.
  2. Unwillingness to work.
  3. Not at all interested in the world around. This is going inward. “I'm not interested in anything. Nothing pleases me. And all that interests me is just how bad I feel. These are clear indicators of depression, and here you need the help of a specialist.

“If we are talking about laziness, then there is no need to fight if this is the same phase of exhalation, temporary rest, you just need to accept it. This is cool. Unhealthy - do not accept. Second, what they talked about, when laziness is depression, here we need a fight with the help of a doctor, ”concluded Nagornova.

Psychologists told how to distinguish laziness from depression and apathy

Society like “smile, the world is not over” which are said in an attempt to cheer up. However, for a person with real clinical depression, such advice will not help, and, most likely, will only make it worse. Another thing is that an uninitiated person is hardly able to distinguish apathy from ordinary laziness.

Vechernyaya Moskva decided to ask a psychiatrist of the highest category, Viktor Khanykov, how to identify depression in loved ones, which should be treated by a specialist.

— The fact is that if we talk about depression, then it rarely manifests itself exclusively as a decrease in initiative and activity. According to the "classics", it should also be accompanied by a depressed mood, components of longing, that is, a pessimistic expectation of the future or anxiety - a premonition of trouble. Viktor Khanykov said. - There is also active longing, in which a person rushes from place to place, assuming that everything in his life is collapsing, but something needs to be done. And there are also passive states, when a person just lies and does nothing. In this case, as a rule, the physical state, which looks like ordinary laziness, is preceded by a period of low mood without an apathetic component.

As Viktor Khanykov noted, it is not so important what a person says, but how he does it. There is a reason to take such a “lazy person” to a psychologist and find out why interest in any activity has disappeared. A competent specialist will be able to say whether the apathetic state is associated with the patient’s principled position or a personal crisis, or whether these are attitudes in the head that push friends and acquaintances to revolve around this person, creating optimal conditions. And therefore a person with this type of psyche will lie and wait until a comfortable life is created for him. Accordingly, such things can be determined by the intonation of the voice, for example, whether there are some capricious notes or not.

If you are not sure about something, then first of all look in yourself / frame from the film "Treason" (2012)

— It should be noted that a person with apathy in the form of laziness does not give up his usual rituals. He normally eats, sleeps, watches TV or spends time on a gadget. But with total apathy, a person does nothing at all for a meaningful period of time - usually a day or two. He lies and looks at the ceiling, neglects personal hygiene and food. And he does this even when they are not looking at him. Real apathy concerns all aspects of interaction with the outside world. And this is already a serious reason to worry and turn to specialists,” the psychiatrist emphasized. - With partial apathy, you don’t want to work, study, just communicate with someone, but the soul still asks for something else. However, this is also a reason to turn to a psychologist, because such states are caused by certain experiences.

At the same time, according to a number of experts, depression can occur because a person's personal space is violated.

— It is important to learn to refuse, not to take on too much. Surprisingly, depressed people often try to help others. It is in the mentality of our generation that being selfish is bad. But you need to take care of yourself, - said the Gestalt therapist and psychologist Anna Devyatka. - Everyone around is told: you need to work efficiently, provide services, you need to be friendly with everyone and make contact.

Learn more